NEW DELHI, August 6, 2015
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea made by the Centre to refer a batch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar project to a Constitution Bench.
A three-judge Bench, headed by Justice J. Chelameswar, said the decision would be pronounced on August 11.
The petitions have challenged the Aadhaar project, with its biometric registration process and linkage to basic and essential subsidies, as a violation of the citizens’ right to privacy.
The Centre has sought a larger Bench to answer questions of law, primarily whether privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution in the light of precedents. And if so, what are the contours of the right.
The major point of debate has been the contrasting views taken by various Benches of the court, some holding privacy to be a fundamental right, while the others have said it is not.
Keywords: Aadhaar, right to privacy, Constitution Bench, UIDAI