In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Saturday, May 20, 2017

11435 - SC Declines to Stay Mandatory Aadhaar For Welfare Schemes - News18


Updated: May 19, 2017, 7:53 PM IST

New Delhi: In a reprieve for the Central government, the Supreme Court on Friday refrained from staying various notifications issued under the Aadhaar Act to make unique identity number mandatory for several social welfare schemes.

A two-judge bench led by Justice A M Khanwilkar said that the court would not want to deal with the issue in piecemeal and would examine all applications against Aadhaar on June 27.

“It is appropriate if we hear all interlocutory applications together…they may involve same or similar issues,” said the bench while deferring the hearing of a plea made in a PIL filed by Shantha Sinha. Sinha is former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The court also recorded preliminary objections raised by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that a previous order in a batch of cases on Aadhaar was issued by a five-judge Constitution Bench and therefore, only a Constitution Bench could now examine the plea for interim relief.

Rohatgi, on his part, also made it clear that the government was not going to extend the deadline of June 30 by which various schemes such as grant of scholarships, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and various other social welfare schemes were to seek mandatory Aadhaar number.

“Today, we have 120 crore people who have Aadhaar cards but they are not here. The people who are supposed to be benefited by these schemes are not before the court but those who are not going to be affected by all, keep filing petitions after petitions,” rued the AG.

He complained that there was a similar PIL filed last year with same prayers but the apex court did not grant any interim relief. “Can they go on filing petitions after petitions which have even the same text? I can show that paragraphs in this petition are true copies of what was there in the last petition on the subject. This is abuse of the process of the court,” added Rohatgi, citing a petition moved by Lt Col (retd) S G Vombatkere in October 2016.

Senior lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for Sinha, replied that the previous petition might have similar prayers but the subject matter of the present PIL was entirely different. “These notifications were not issued when the previous petition was filed. We have come with fresh cause of actions. Besides, technicality should the last thing to be argued by the AG when we are claiming violation of fundamental rights. The court had in 2015 asked the government not to make Aadhaar mandatory and they are now in breach. The AG should not shy away from replying on merit,” said Divan.

“I am not shying away…I have fought these cases 20 times,” retorted Rohatgi, adding that Aadhaar was merely an executive scheme when the restraint orders were passed but now the Parliament has passed a law. “There cannot be any injunction against the Parliament from passing a law,” said the AG, adding that only a Constitution Bench should hear the matter.

Divan said that it was not proper to make a PIL petitioner run from one court to another on technical grounds and deny a hearing altogether. But Rohatgi responded that he was called at 2 am by the court which had decided to open its doors to allow a predawn hearing for 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.

The bench also reacted: “Mr Divan! Please don’t say that this court is not available for common citizens. This court is always available for them.” It then adjourned the matter to June 27, saying the court registry, after suitable instructions from the Chief Justice of India, will place this case before an appropriate bench.

Another bench in the top court had recently reserved its verdict on yet another challenge to linking Aadhaar with PAN cards and for filing Income-Tax returns. Newly inserted provisions in the Finance Act make it mandatory for people to have Aadhaar for validating their PAN cards and for I-T returns. The deadline to link Aadhaar for this purpose is June 30.