‘Aadhaar a danger to sovereignty’
Apr 08, 2016 - Anil Bhat
Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL) held a press conference on “Are Aadhaar like biometric identification projects in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan legitimate?” at Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia, New Delhi, recently, to focus on the various aspects of mass biometric identification projects in South Asian countries.
The conference included statements by P.D.T. Achary, former secretary-general, Lok Sabha, Dr Usha Ramanathan, noted jurist, Dr M. Vijayanunni, former registrar general and census commissioner and former chief secretary of government of Kerela, Dr Gopal Krishna of Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties and Col. Mathew Thomas, a retired defence scientist, who petitioned before the Supreme Court of India against Aadhaar.
The order of Chief Justice of India, headed by a 5-judge bench in the Aadhaar matter, awaits compliance.
Dr Krishna pointed out that transnational companies like Ernst & Young, L1 Identities Solution, Safran and Accenture are involved in the Government of India’s project of Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) begun in 2009, following Pakistan, for biometric identification of Indian residents.
“Ironically, these companies have been collating personal sensitive information for seven years, which the government is paying for. The government’s ambitious Digital India project seeks to link mobile SIM cards with the unique identity number (UID) or Aadhaar.
The development comes close on the heels of the Cabinet approving the blueprint for the Digital India project,” Dr Krishna said.
The Aadhaar (targeted delivery of financial and other subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016, will provide for the “efficient, transparent and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India, to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers to such individuals,” said the notification dated March 26, 2016. The act has been notified in the gazette after it received the President’s assent.
However, further revelations based on statements and reports of the eminent persons named are indeed disturbing, to say the least.
Referring to Aadhaar Act, Mr Achary said that it “comes under the category of financial bills under Article 117” and not under the category of Money Bill. “Article 110(3) confirms finality on the Speaker’s decision on the question of whether a bill is a Money Bill. But this constitutional provision cannot be seen as a convenient tool to deal with an inconvenient second chamber,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court will have to examine whether the Lok Sabha has the competence and power to expose people to grave risks, while clarifying that under the Constitution of India, the Speakers’ power is not absolute and can be challenged in a court of law.
Dr Vijayanunni said, “China, which is comparable to India in terms of size and diversity of population, abandoned its universal ID system midway in the face of insurmountable problems encountered during its implementation, despite the supposed advantage of their totalitarian system in pushing through such a humongous but ill-advised project. The real pressure for continuance of the scheme will be from the police and secret surveillance systems to pry into the privacy of everyone, which gives them unlimited powers over the lives of helpless individuals and enjoy unchallenged supremacy in the days to come. That will sound the death-knell of freedom and democracy.”
Dr Ramanathan said, “Biometrics, unlike passwords or pin numbers, can not be replaced. What is a person supposed to do if their biometrics get compromised?”
