The bench shall address the issue of whether the right to privacy of a citizen is a fundamental right or not
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Apurva Vishwanath
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred a batch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar, India’s unique identification project, to a larger bench to decide on constitutional aspects.
A bench consisting of justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde and C. Nagappan said that a constitutional bench of five judges shall address the issue of whether the right to privacy of a citizen is a fundamental right or not. The court is now hearing arguments to pass an interim order that shall be in effect till such time the case is disposed.
Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi pressed the court to allow further enrollments for the unique identification number. “91% of the adult population in India and 23% of those aged below 18 have already been issued Aadhaar numbers and such a scheme cannot be impeded right before reaching the goal post,” he said. Justice C. Nagappan brought to the notice of the government a news report that appeared on Tuesday which said Telangana has made it mandatory for prison visitors across the state to produce Aadhaar cards for identification.
To this, the government counsel said such actions are not permissible and a contempt notice can be issued to prevent them. The central government is not inclined to share the biometric information with any agencies for whatsoever purposes, the attorney general specified.
The bench also said that they are, however, inclined to pass an interim order restraining the government from taking any further executive action under the Unique Identification Authority of India 2009 notification of the Planning Commission.
The petitioners argued that enrolment for Aadhaar cards is a continuous process and even a newborn is being issued an Aadhaar number. The court is scheduled to pass an interim order at 2pm.