JOIN USHearing a petition by Sunil Sharma and others, who had moved the High Court seeking directions to prevent the substandard cards, the division bench headed by Justice J S Khehar has ordered notice to Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Registrar General and Census Commissioner and others.
The petitioners had submitted that the machinery, which the respondents are about to procure at a cost of Rs five crore is unable to meet the specifications of technical committee. They contended this would result in substantial loss to the exchequer and the very purpose of MNIC card will be defeated.
They pointed out that a technical committee had been formed to look into whether the card is a ISO 7816 standard smart card, whether the size of the chip is 16KB and whether it has UV blocker PET patch or is it made of PVC+ PET G.
The petitioners further said one of the important aspects of MNIC card is to have a lifespan of at least 10-15 years. But this aspect was passed without the approval of the technical committee. If approved, this will single handedly destroy the MNIC project as the card will not survive more than two years.
Mentioning that the pilot project aimed to produce one crore cards at a cost of Rs 250 crore has been without technical specification.