AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9236 - 2016: False info by non-PAN holders can land them in jail

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, January 19, 2016

9236 - 2016: False info by non-PAN holders can land them in jail - Economic Times

2016: False info by non-PAN holders can land them in jail

PTI Dec 31, 2015, 07.58PM IST

NEW DELHI: A false declaration by an individual not possessing PAN card for certain value of transactions can land him upto a seven-year jail term and a hefty fine as part of Income Tax regulations that will come into force from tomorrow.

As part of the directives issued by the government for implementation of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) regime from January 1, any person not having a PAN but undertaking a transaction which requires a mandatory quoting of it, will have to fill up 'Form No. 60'.

The one-page form seeks personal details of the person undertaking the transaction along with a valid proof of identity and address, like Aadhaar and Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) among others.

"There are people who may not have a PAN and still make a large transaction for which quoting of PAN is now essential. In such cases, such people have to fill Form 60 and making a false declaration of information in this will make them liable for punishment which could be a maximum of seven years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) with fine or a minimum of three months RI with fine under IT laws," a senior tax department official said.

The department is empowered to file a prosecution case against such people under section 277 of the IT Act (false statement in verification), the official said.

The said Act stipulates that in a case where tax sought to be evaded exceeds Rs 25 lakh (by way of false declaration in Form 60), the punishment is RI between 6 months-7 years with fine and in cases below this monetary limit, the punishment will be RI between 3 months-2 years with fine.

In order to achieve a two-pronged target of curbing the circulation of black money and widening tax base, the government has recently notified changes in the monetary limits that will require mandatory quoting of PAN.

PAN has been made compulsory from tomorrow for transactions like cash payment of hotel or foreign travel bill exceeding Rs 50,000, purchase of jewellery above Rs two lakhs in cash or card, purchase of immovable property of over Rs 10 lakh, term deposits exceeding Rs 50,000 or Rs 5 lakh in a year with banks, Post Offices and Non Banking Financial Companies among others.

Under the 'Form No. 60', an individual has to provide his personal details like name, address, date of birth, mobile number and mode of transaction like cash, cheque, card, draft or banker's cheque, online transfer or any other.

The form has an exclusive column to provide the Aadhaar number of the declarant and also includes space for mentioning the acknowledgement number which could have been received by them while applying for this 10-digit alphanumeric number.

The form also asks for the estimated total income of the person along with separate columns for their possible agricultural and non-agricultural income.

The latest notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in this regard states that PAN would be mandatory for cash payments of more than Rs 50,000 for cash cards or prepaid instruments as well as for purchasing shares of unlisted companies for Rs 1 lakh and above.