AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2023 - Declare Aadhaar illegal, pleads suit filed against UIDAI

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

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

2023 - Declare Aadhaar illegal, pleads suit filed against UIDAI - TOI

TNN | Nov 27, 2011, 01.55PM IST

BANGALORE:

A suit filed in a city civil court in Bangalore feels Aadhaar, the mega Unique Identification project of the central government, is illegal.

Missile scientist Mathew Thomas and social activist V K Somashekar jointly filed this suit.The chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India and chairperson of Planning Commission of India are defendants in the suit.

The plaintiffs contend that the scheme was designed for the benefit of few private companies and without any serious study. "There are complaints of large-scale violations of these 'contracts of enrollment'. The private companies which are enrolling agencies employ temporary workers on a contract basis. Their antecedents are unknown. This is a risk to both the nation and the people. They are implementing the UID project in an absolutely irresponsible manner. They have deliberately compromised the rights of the people.

The plaintiffs are extremely concerned with the way the defendants are abusing their position and powers, spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money. Continuing with Aadhaar is against the interest of citizens of India. The said scheme is in violation of all known civil rights and a disempowering mechanism. It is against all accepted norms of rule of law and fundamental rights, guaranteed under the Constitution of India", the suit claimed.

The plaintiffs further claim that the Aadhaar scheme has been illegally designed without any semblance of a statutory right with the officials and other interested parties, who are by and large private companies having substantial investments in software technologies. "The purpose of issuing a number to every resident of India is a dangerous design and is being issued with a mala fide intention of enabling surveillance of the people, commercial exploitation of demographic data, unjust enrichment of some individuals, national and transnational agencies, bureaucrats, national and transnational monetary agencies, financial institutions, insurance based institutions, communication companies, imaging companies, vested societies and organizations of dubious background all at the cost of taxpayer's money," the suit claimed.

The plaintiffs also feel the authorities have not conducted any serious study on feasibility, implications and pitfalls of the scheme. "There are serious lacunae in the process of issuing the Aadhaar number to every resident. The authorities have not given any serious thought on the issues of personal liberty, right to privacy and various other issues of citizens of India. They have made tall claims of utility of Aadhaar. The process raises dangerous issues of possibility of compromising rights of citizens of India and possibility of the whole process being one made to facilitate state surveillance of people, enrich already rich national and transnational corporate agencies like Wipro, HCL, Infosys," the plaintiffs claimed while seeking an injunction order.