SC notice to Centre, UIDAI on plea on Aadhaar use

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Union government and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on a plea challenging validity of the Aadhaar Amendment Act, 2019, that allowed voluntary use of the 12-digit number for mobile connections and opening bank accounts.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice B R Gavai sought a response from the Centre and the UIDAI on a petition filed by Mysuru-based S G Vombatkere and others.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan appeared for the petitioners. He said the top court had already on July 5 issued notice on a previous petition challenging validity of the Ordinance, passed in this regard.

The top court, after issuing notice to the authorities, then decided to tag the present petition along with the previous one. The Aadhaar and Other Laws Amendment Act, 2019, came into operation on July 24. This provided for e-KYC authentication on voluntary basis under the Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. In other words, this allowed voluntary use of Aadhaar number for authentication and identity proof in opening bank accounts and procuring mobile phone connections.

In their plea questioning validity of the Ordinance, the petitioners had contended it was “reckless” on the government's part to allow e-KYC or identification on the database of the Aadhaar. They feared that the move will have deleterious impact on the fundamental rights of the citizens. They had sought a declaration, among others, that Aadhaar database being accessed by the private entities cannot store any information of the citizens.

The petitioners claimed that the security of personal data was imperiled by allowing private players access to it. The information available with the UIDAI is unverified by any government agency and lacks integrity, they said.

“The purported utilisation of the information for e-KYC and verification of the identity for the use of services in manifestly arbitrary and compromises national security and integrity of the financial system of the country,” the petitioners claimed.

The petitioners also contended that the Ordinance breached the red lines drawn by the apex court's Constitution bench judgement (Justice K S Puttaswamy's case) of September 26, 2018 that no private entity or corporation can use Aadhaar authentication and that it cannot form a basis for commercial exploitation. The bench also noted that Aadhaar can be used for limited designated purposes backed by the statute and that too only by the State.