Legitimacy of Aadhar Act

Introduction

In India, almost all the person has a 12-digit unique code called Aadhar Number. It was introduced by the congress government back in 2009. The reason for this card was that earlier to this, even though there were a number of identities but they are easily duplicable. There was not a database that can support for identification of the people. With the introduction of Aadhar, it all became a lot easier. This card is not easily duplicable as it stores biometric data in its servers. Aadhar is described as the world’s biggest and most sophisticated biometric system by Chief of the World Bank.

Even though it is the most advanced system, there is always a fear of our confidential information being stolen. There have been made from time to time various claims regarding information stored in the system being vulnerable for hackers. Even though it has been made clear by the UIDAI (govt. body maintaining Aadhar card information) that information stored in servers is safe, but many cases have been filed from time to time challenging Aadhar Act.

Aadhar Act was introduced in 2016 to provide legal backing. Many provisions were challenged and some of them were declared invalid. The legitimacy of Aadhar card even though challenged many times but now have been declared valid.

Judicial Pronouncements

The reason that courts have to step in and decide cases is due to the reason that it has been argued that the collection of identity data without adequate safeguards interferes with the fundamental right to privacy protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.  Article 21 guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. The most interesting case challenging the legitimacy of the act was Justice K. Puttaswamy (Retd) and Another vs Union of India and Others. The judgment of this case was given by a constitutional bench comprising of then chief justice Deepak Mishra himself. The court held the Aadhar Act to be legitimate but struck down many provisions that were unconstitutional. Some of the provisions are:

• The Supreme court asked the center to bring a robust law for data protection as soon as possible.
• The court said that Aadhar cannot be made mandatory for opening a bank account or for getting a new mobile connection.
• The court held that Aadhar cannot be made compulsory for school admission.
• The SC said that Aadhaar must not be made compulsory for school admission and the administration cannot make it mandatory.
• The SC has made linking of Aadhaar and PAN mandatory. The apex court also made Aadhaar mandatory for filing of Income Tax Return (ITR).
• The SC directed the government to ensure that illegal migrants are not issued Aadhaar to get benefits of social welfare schemes.
•  Private companies can’t ask for Aadhaar.

Conclusion

The Aadhar card is the biggest database that contains the information of citizens of the country. Till now 125 crores of people have this card which constitutes 95% of the population of the country. Another misconception that has to be cleared is that Aadhar is identity proof and not the proof of citizenship of India.
The landmarks judgment has cleared the cloud of doubt which was developed by various individuals.