Justice Chandrachud Highlights Several Flaws In Aadhaar Programme
✅ Aadhaar Act cannot be regarded as money bill.
✅ Society is witnessing shift to a knowledge economy.
✅ Case is as much about rule of law as about institutional governance.
Decision of Lok Sabha speaker certifying a bill as money bill can be judicially reviewed.
✅ Superseding the authority of Rajya Sabha constitutes as a fraud on the Constitution.
✅ There is no clarity on how an individual is supposed to update his biometric information in case of a mismatch.
✅ Aadhaar Act is liable to be declared as unconstitutional.
Regulations under Aadhaar Act do not provide robust mechanism for informed consent.
✅ Aadhaar programme violates norms of informational privacy and data protection.
✅ Aadhaar project has failed to account for flaws which has led to exclusion of eligible beneficiaries.
✅ Respondents (Government, UIDAI) failed to satisfy test of necessity and proportionality.
✅ Aadhaar Act is also silent on their liability.
✅ UIDAI does not face any institutional accountability or responsibility to ensure whether data entered in CIDR is authentic.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar earlier upheld the Aadhaar Act as constitutional, in their judgment.
Justice Chandrachud On Section 57 And Section 7:
✅ Section 57 violates Articles 14 and 21 of Constitution.
✅ Section 7 enables the government to regulate its every interaction with the citizens. It suffers from “overbearing” nature.
✅ Section 7 is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 21.
Data collected by telecom companies through Aadhaar linkage should be deleted, says Justice Chandrachud in his dissenting judgment.
The mandatory linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar has also been quashed, Justice Sikri said in his order.
Aadhaar Not Mandatory To Purchase SIM Card, Says Supreme Court
The DoT notification of linking SIM cards with Aadhaar has been held unconstitutional, Justice Sikri said as a part of the majority judgment.
Aadhaar Can Be Passed As Money Bill, Says Justice Sikri
The apex court has held that the Aadhaar Act could be passed as a money bill.
Petitioners had argued that provisions of the Aadhaar Act which do not fulfill the criteria of a money bill cannot be removed once the bill has been passed. Hence, the entire law needs to be struck down.
Aadhaar Cannot Be Mandatory For Education, Says Justice Sikri
Educational boards such as CBSE and UGC who have made the need for Aadhaar mandatory, cannot do so, Justice Sikri said.
✅ For enrollment of children in Aadhaar it would be essential to have consent of parents. While attaining age of 18, they will be given of choice to exit.
✅ As far as admission into school is concerned, requirement of Aadhaar is not mandatory.
Justice Sikri Pronounces Judgment In Favour Of Aadhaar Programme
Justice Sikri read out the majority judgment today, in favour of the Aadhaar programme. Chief Justice Misra and Justice Khanwilkar concurred with his view. Aadhaar will empower the marginalised sections of the society, giving them an identity, he said.
✅ It is better to be unique than the best because being the best makes you number one but being unique makes you one. Uniqueness is the feature of Aadhaar.
✅ Architecture of Aadhaar reveals that UIDAI is a statutory body.
✅ Aadhaar number given to a particular person is unique and cannot be given to anyone else.
✅ Attack of petitioners is founded on the argument that it (Aadhaar) is a grave risk to the rights of the citizens of the country. They contend it makes the state capable of becoming a surveillance state.
✅ The respondents argue that minimal biometric information is obtained.
Respondents argue that no data is collected on basis of caste, creed, religion, medical history etc.
✅ Aadhaar to empower marginalised sections of society. It gives them an identity.
✅ Aadhaar prevents duplication of data and the enrollment is foolproof.
Court has adopted a just, fair and reasonable standard to test Aadhaar on principle of Fundamental Right of privacy.
✅ Respondents rightly pointed out there are sufficient safeguards in authentication process.
“Court has come to conclusion that minimal demographic and biometric data is collected”.
