AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 3241 - SC pulls up Govt over NRC update delay

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, April 23, 2013

3241 - SC pulls up Govt over NRC update delay

SC pulls up Govt over NRC update delay

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=apr1113/at05

KALYAN BAROOAH

NEW DELHI, April 10 – Pulling up the Centre and Assam government for the delay in updating of the National Register for Citizens (NRC), the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed them and the Election Commission of India (EC) to submit written response within three weeks explaining the reasons for the delay.

The Apex Court’s direction came after the Counsel for the EC clarified that the Electoral Rolls of 1966 was available. The hearing was in connection with a Writ Petition (civil) filed by an NGO Assam Public Works (APW), which sought the Supreme Court’s direction on the guidelines for update of NRC.

A Division Bench of Justice HL Gokhale and Justice Ranjan Gogoi today after hearing the counsels for Government of India, Assam government and the EC, asked them the reasons for delay in preparing the NRC as the petition was pending since 2009. The Court remarked that even as the government took its time to finalise the mechanism for update of NRC, elections were held in 2011, and the general election of 2014 was approaching and Assembly election in the State is due in 2016.

The APW, which was represented by Counsel Arvind Kumar Sharma and Tanushree Sinha Roy mentioned about the ethic riots of Kokrajhar.

The Counsels for Centre and Assam government explained to the Court the modalities adopted for the update of NRC in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Act. The EC’s Counsel told the Court that the voter’s list of 1966 was available with it.

After hearing all the sides, the Bench directed them to file their written affidavits within three weeks. The case is now coming up for further hearing on May 8, informed Abhijeet Sarma, president of APWs.

The Supreme Court had on April 3 asked the EC, Assam government and the Centre to explain in details the mechanism for preparing the NRC. The Court sought clarifications regarding filling of forms the authorities responsible for verification of the filled forms. The matter was adjourned after the counsels sought seven days time to respond.

In its order, the Supreme Court said that although the State of Assam has taken some steps in the matter for preparing the concerned National Register for Citizens there appears to be some gap in the system in the sense that although some forms, as thought about, are to be distributed and received after they are filed, the mechanism thereafter till the stage of the Foreigners Tribunal under the Foreigners Act, 1946, is not clearly formulated.

It also wanted the Central government to specify how much time it needed to finalise the proposal with respect to entries of the NRC.

The petition called for identification of the pre March 25 1971 Bangladeshis along with their descendants and identification of the post March 24 1971 Bangladeshis as foreigners.

It pleaded that Government of Assam be asked to start the process of regularization of all pre March 25th March1971 immigrants, along with their descendants in all constituencies as the first prerequisites of the NRC update process. APWs also called for fulfilment of the clause 5.2 of the Assam Accord 1985.

The APW suggested setting up of district-wise empanelled committee under Deputy Commissioner and other officials and at least five prominent non-political members of the District for verifying the applications.

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http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=apr1113/at08

Make modalities for NRC update public: AASU

STAFF Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 10 – The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today demanded that the Government should make the modalities to be used for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) public before starting the process.

The AASU today sent memorandum to the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Home Secretary demanding that the modalities should be made water tight so that no Bangladeshi national can include his or her name in the NRC with false documents. The AASU said that the process of updating the NRC should be started all over the state simultaneously.