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

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

9457 - Legal wrap: The week gone by - Live Mint

Last Modified: Mon, Mar 07 2016. 10 49 AM IST

Legal wrap: The week gone by

Among last week’s significant developments on the legal front were the introduction of Aaadhaar bill and call drop penalty case in Supreme Court

Priyanka Mittal

Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Among last week’s significant developments on the legal front were the introduction of the Aaadhaar bill, the call drop penalty case in Supreme Court and the bail of JNSU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Read about these and other developments below:

Aadhaar bill
Setting the ball rolling on the long pending Aadhaar Unique Identification (UID) scheme and clearing the path for the so-called JAM trinity—Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile—the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tabled the Aadhaar bill as a money bill in the Lok Sabha on 3 March.

The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill seeks to make the use of Aadhaar mandatory for availing of government subsidies but at the same time tries to address concerns regarding privacy and protection of personal information. Read more about it here

Cement trucks
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued notices to 13 cement companies following a petition that they were violating its earlier orders prohibiting overloading vehicles. The 13 cement manufacturers include Shree Cement Ltd, J.K. Cements Ltd, ACC Cements Ltd, Binani Cement Ltd, Birla Corp. Ltd, Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd etc. The petitioner claimed cement companies were overloading trucks by 200-250% to save on toll. In October 2015, NGT had directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to institute a proper mechanism to check emission levels of moving, overloaded, heavy vehicles, which is still to be done. Read more on

Red FM’s Phase-III licence
It will soon be decided whether Digital Radio Broadcasting’s Red FM can finally migrate to a Phase-III licence. Last year, the information and broadcasting ministry had refused to allow the channel to participate in the Phase-III FM auctions for want of a security clearance from the home ministry. The Delhi high court, however, allowed it to participate as an interim measure. Accordingly, the court has asked the home ministry to decide within two weeks. Read more here and here

Rule of law for sustainable development
During an international conference organized by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Union home minister Rajnath Singh stressed on the importance of rule of law for sustainable development. He held the rule of law and sustainable development to be inseparable. The need to reduce violence in all forms and promote the rule of law at both the national and international level was also discussed. Read more

Bail for JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was granted interim bail by the Delhi high court on 2 March. The court, however, made some stern observations while granting bail. Although it was noted that his name does not appear on the posters of the controversial event and he was not seen raising anti-national slogans in any of the video footage, strong observations against his alleged ‘anti-national’ behaviour were made.
“It is a case of raising anti-national slogans which do have the effect of threatening national integrity,” was one such observation. Read more here and here

Call drop penalty
Telcos, which opposed compensation to subscribers for call drops under new regulations in the Delhi high court have approached the apex court for clarity on the issue. Prima facie, the court has noted that regulations penalizing telcos for call drops are valid. “If call drop fault is on your (telecos) part, you will have to pay for it,” the court said. The court will hear the matter on 10 March.

Vijay Mallaya and wilful default
The Delhi high court refusing to hear a plea by Vijay Mallaya against State Bank of India’s (SBI) decision to name him a “wilful defaulter”, even as the state-owned lender’s efforts to have an arrest warrant issued against him threatened to derail his sweetheart deal with Diageo Plc. Meanwhile, Mallaya is seeking a one-time settlement with banks while holding that he is not a wilful defaulter. The tragic journey of the tycoon and his inheritance can be read here

Priyanka Mittal

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