Review plea filed in SC against Aadhaar verdict

A review petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the September 26 judgement that upheld the validity of Aadhaar, a 12-digit unique identification number for citizens.

The five-judge Constitution bench had upheld the constitutionality of both the Aadhaar programme as well as various provisions of the Aadhaar (Targetted Delivery of Benefits, Subsidies and Services) Act, 2016.

Petitioner Imtiyaz Ali Palsaniya sought reconsideration of the judgement, contending various grounds raised in his impleadment application were not considered by the apex court while adjudicating upon the dispute, particularly so when the issues would have a significant bearing on the fate of citizenry itself.

“It is apparent that the impugned judgement is self-contradictory on some of the issues, which constituted an error apparent on the face of the record and the same require a review and/ or clarification from this court,” he stated in his petition.

The petitioner contended that his plea was confined to a narrow compass seeking to challenge only those aspects of the Aadhaar programme as well as the Aadhaar Act, 2016 which were held to be constitutionally valid.

The top court by a majority view of 4:1 on September 26 upheld the validity of Aadhaar programme, saying in balancing the rights to privacy and dignity of individuals, it is serving a much larger purpose by taking the benefits of various welfare schemes to the hundreds of millions of deserving persons.

The court, however, had restricted the use of Aadhaar to benefits and subsidies and struck down the orders mandating the citizens to link their unique 12-digit numbers with bank accounts and mobile numbers.

The court had said Aadhaar gives individuals their unique identity. The inroads into their right to privacy for parting with biometric details are also minimal. It becomes a vital tool of ensuring good governance in a social welfare state with no possibility of creating an individual profile.