Constitution bench to hear Aadhaar, privacy issues
Ashish Tripathi, New Delhi, DH News Service, Jul 13 2017, 2:55 IST
The five-judge would begin the hearing from July 18. The CJI told the counsel that the hearing would have to be finished within two days. DH file photo
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to set up a five-judge Constitution bench to hold hearing on July 18 and 19 to adjudicate upon a crucial legal issue if right to privacy is a fundamental right and is being violated in issuance of Aadhaar.
A bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar allowed a plea made by Attorney General K K Venugopal and senior advocate Shyam Divan for constituting a larger bench to decide the questions, including to the one related to privacy, raised in challenge to validity of Aadhaar.
The five-judge would begin the hearing from July 18. The CJI told the counsel that the hearing would have to be finished within two days. The counsel earlier sought five days time for advancing the arguments.
The Narendra Modi government's move to link Aadhaar with various welfare schemes has been challenged by a group of social activists. They contended that it violated the apex court's order of 2013 that no one can be denied benefits of any scheme due to absence of Aadhaar. Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy and others had challenged the legal validity of Aadhaar in 2012. They claimed that Aadhaar compromised with their right to privacy as it mandated people to part with body details, including iris and biometrics.
The government, however, claimed the decision has helped it to save thousands of crores, which was earlier being eaten away by the ghost beneficiaries.
A three-judge bench presided over by Justice J Chelameswar had on July 7 told the counsel, appearing for a group of Aadhaar challengers, and Venugopal, representing the Union government, to seek setting up a larger bench to decide the main issue relating to the right to privacy.
The setting of the Constitution bench was pending since 2015. With passage of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the government, which fortified its stand by giving legal backing to the executive schemes, had claimed 115.15 crore people already embraced the “socio-political tool” to seek benefits of various schemes.
Fundamental right of identity and various e-governance initiatives of the government to provide food security, livelihood, jobs and health to the teeming masses cannot be sacrificed at the altar of right to privacy of an elite few who have neither applied for nor want Aadhaar, it had contended.
A bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar allowed a plea made by Attorney General K K Venugopal and senior advocate Shyam Divan for constituting a larger bench to decide the questions, including to the one related to privacy, raised in challenge to validity of Aadhaar.
The five-judge would begin the hearing from July 18. The CJI told the counsel that the hearing would have to be finished within two days. The counsel earlier sought five days time for advancing the arguments.
The Narendra Modi government's move to link Aadhaar with various welfare schemes has been challenged by a group of social activists. They contended that it violated the apex court's order of 2013 that no one can be denied benefits of any scheme due to absence of Aadhaar. Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy and others had challenged the legal validity of Aadhaar in 2012. They claimed that Aadhaar compromised with their right to privacy as it mandated people to part with body details, including iris and biometrics.
The government, however, claimed the decision has helped it to save thousands of crores, which was earlier being eaten away by the ghost beneficiaries.
A three-judge bench presided over by Justice J Chelameswar had on July 7 told the counsel, appearing for a group of Aadhaar challengers, and Venugopal, representing the Union government, to seek setting up a larger bench to decide the main issue relating to the right to privacy.
The setting of the Constitution bench was pending since 2015. With passage of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the government, which fortified its stand by giving legal backing to the executive schemes, had claimed 115.15 crore people already embraced the “socio-political tool” to seek benefits of various schemes.
Fundamental right of identity and various e-governance initiatives of the government to provide food security, livelihood, jobs and health to the teeming masses cannot be sacrificed at the altar of right to privacy of an elite few who have neither applied for nor want Aadhaar, it had contended.
