Tuesday, 15 October 2013 | Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
The Government is in no mood to tamely accept the Supreme Court’s September 23 directive not to make Aadhaar card mandatory for availing the benefit of subsidised welfare schemes.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has approached the SC with an application citing two orders by the apex court that are in conflict with the latest order.
Presenting the two SC orders, the UIDAI, the implementing agency for Aadhaar cards, has approached the court for re-linking Aadhaar with the distribution of social welfare schemes. The application will be heard on October 22.
The SC, which raised questions on the legal basis of issuing Aadhaar cards, now faces a predicament as on the two occasions it ordered implementation of Central and State welfare schemes through Aadhaar.
The first occasion came in 2011 when the SC, while dealing with a PIL monitoring the public distribution scheme (PDS), directed Aadhaar databank to be used for computerisation of PDS.
“This will help in streamlining the process of biometric collection as well as authentication,” the court said in its order of September 14, 2011. The matter is still pending with the court as the Centre agreed to link PDS with the Aadhaar registration for eliminating pilferage of foodgrains and bogus beneficiaries.
In February this year, the court acknowledged the in-built credibility of the Aadhaar card in a case from Kerala. Here, a dispute was brought to court where a Government school misrepresented on the actual strength of students in order to wrongfully obtain a higher staff strength order and a corresponding hike in fees and increments.
The Kerala Government, which initially ordered a police enquiry into the irregularity, proposed to verify the count of students through the Unique Identification card.
The suggestion was acceptable to a bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, who then directed the Education Department of the State to “issue UID card to all schoolchildren” by its judgement dated February 6.
In its September 23 order, the apex court held that no person will be compelled to have an Aadhaar card as a pre-condition to avail Government schemes or services. It had asked for the law and rules governing Aadhaar before allowing it to be used as the medium for channeling Government subsides.
The order has left the Centre in a fix as 28 welfare programmes have been linked to the identification database of Aadhaar.Through its application, the UIDAI reassured the court that Aadhaar will only matter for availing subsidy and not service under the scheme. There would also be no compromise as regards privacy of information, it informed.
The other concern of the court regarding Aadhaar being issued to illegal immigrants was also met by the Authority with an argument that Aadhaar was a proof of identity and not proof of citizenship. However, it undertook to address any “failings and inadequacies”.