SC refuses to stay Madras HC order restraining DMK from using OTP verification

On July 21, the high court issued an injunction restraining the DMK from using OTP verification messages for its enrolment drive, saying the matter involves aspects of data protection and privacy which are to be examined by the court.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to put on hold an interim injunction by the Madras High Court against the use of OTP verification messages for the DMK's enrolment drive -- 'Oraniyil Tamil Nadu'.

A bench of justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar said the court was not inclined to entertain the appeal filed by the DMK, as the issue is "sensitive, and the whole process is suspect".

"The court has to protect the citizens. Go back to the high court. We are not inclined to interfere in the matter. Dismissed," the bench said.

Senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the party was not collecting Aadhaar details. He said the high court had wrongly passed the order as there was no injunction sought in the matter.

The state’s counsel argued that the whole programme has come to a standstill and 1.7 crore members have come.

“I am doing what other parties like the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party are doing. I am not collecting Aadhaar details,” he said.

The high court in July this year had issued an injunction restraining the DMK from using OTP verification messages for its enrollment drive. It had said that the matter involves aspects of data protection and privacy, which are to be examined by the court.

It had noted that the plea before it raised serious concerns about the right to privacy and pointed out that personal data was being collected.

The high court's order came on a plea filed by S Rajkumar, a resident of T Athikarai village in Sivaganga district. The petitioner claimed that DMK cadres and functionaries are collecting personal and Aadhaar details from the public in his locality under the guise of 'Oraniyil Tamil Nadu'.