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

Sunday, September 24, 2017

12107 - OPINION ‘If dissent is not allowed, it’ll take different forms’- The Hindu


SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 00:00 IST


                              R.V. MOORTHY  
The former Attorney General about recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court, the credibility of the court, and the sedition law

Former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, was given the Padma Vibhushan 15 years back for his defence of the freedom of expression and protection of human rights. Now, at 87, Mr. Sorabjee says he is looking forward to making his arguments in a pending case on Aadhaar. Excerpts from a wide-ranging interview:

What are the implications of the Supreme Court’s privacy judgment on Section 377 of the IPC (that criminalises homosexuality)?
I think Section 377 is very questionable now in light of the privacy judgment. The Supreme Court overturned a very good judgment by the Delhi High Court, which had struck down Section 377.
In view of the unanimous privacy judgment of the court, it is clear that what you drink and eat and whom you consort with cannot be the concern of the state. Of course, privacy is also not absolute. No fundamental right is absolute. If a man with questionable reputation visits haunts which have a dubious reputation, and has terrorist links, you can take action against him. But that should be done with proper application of the mind. You can’t rush in to slap the law.

Do you anticipate more litigation in light of the privacy judgment?
There will be (litigation) on Aadhaar and many other issues. The essence of the right to privacy is the right to be left alone. This is one of the most cherished rights of democracy. It is difficult to draw a line, though. Sometimes there are borderline cases but even in such cases, it should be in favour of the person. But the prosecution doesn’t want to take chances and would rather send the person to jail.

What are your arguments in the Aadhaar case?
In principle, I also feel that there isn’t an argument against Aadhaar, especially when it is linked to social benefit schemes. It is possible that it can be misused, but the possibility of misuse cannot be the ground for arguing that the law is not required. It is a grey area, and we must place our trust in the judiciary and the media. The Aadhaar matter is pending, and I may be involved in some cases, so I don’t want to go into that.

You had expressed satisfaction at the fact that the privacy judgment was unanimous. But this was not the case with the triple talaq judgment.
On triple talaq, the former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Khehar Singh, said Parliament must pass a law. But I am afraid, on matters such as this, there should have been a unanimous judgment. It carries more weight. If you dissent, people read different meanings. That’s why I am glad that the privacy judgment was unanimous. 

On triple talaq, the main thing is, you cannot arbitrarily divorce a woman. Yes, you can profess and propagate any religion under Article 25, but this is subject to other provisions in the Constitution. Article 14 (equality) cannot be achieved by having gender discrimination. But what I saw was a community upsurge against the women fighting against triple talaq. Why can’t the woman be given the right to give triple talaq to her husband? It won’t happen. The women who fought were seen as anti-Islam, were maligned in the community. You cannot argue that it is a personal law.

There have been some allegations against Supreme Court judges. Would you say that people today still have faith in the judiciary?
People still ask for a judicial inquiry despite all the challenges and faults of the judiciary. The confidence has not gone — and rightly so.

What do you think of the Supreme Court’s national anthem judgment and the Madras High Court’s Vande Matram judgment?
These (judgments) were meant well, but they were not proper judicial dicta. To my mind, the courts should not have got into this. They could have said this is desirable, but not to the extent of making it mandatory. The Jehovah’s Witnesses case still holds good, where the Supreme Court had observed that there was no provision in law which obliges anyone to sing the national anthem. So, the present order was not necessary at all.

Would you agree that the discussions on intolerance — for instance, what people should be allowed to eat — have come to the fore in the last two-three years?
Well, it has gained prominence. But I don’t think this will succeed. One cannot say, ‘you must be a vegetarian.’ People have lost their lives; how terrible is that! That’s why the courts afford protection. But sometimes, the courts fail. Judges are not infallible.

You had recently said that a critical test to check the claim of any country being democratic is its tolerance of dissent and the protection afforded to dissenters. How has India fared in the test?
India can fare better; this atmosphere of fear must be removed. But it is also a fact that all dissenters are not put behind bars. You see people criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister’s Office, the government. There is apprehension that if they dare say anything against the government or against the established order, they may be incarcerated or put behind bars. That impression must go. The government must make solid efforts to encourage dissent, provided it is not abusive, of course. This is important because if dissent is not allowed, then it takes different forms, not very healthy forms, and finds outlet in other activities.

Why have things come to such a pass?
It is not really as sorry as it is made out. It’s a bit exaggerated. But the fact that there is such an apprehension... that itself is not a good sign. Sometimes an issue is politicised, and an impression is created that people will be put behind bars. We have witnessed criticism of the government in trenchant, virulent terms. They are not put behind bars or murdered. The Opposition also exaggerates it. The real test is for the people to openly say: ‘We dissent and we challenge you to do something to us.’

When people criticise, it is often called seditious. Do you think the sedition law should remain in the statute books?
Yes. Challenge the actions, the facts on which the action was taken. But not the statutory provision. The criminal misappropriation provision in law, for instance, where false charges are made. Take Section 420, it has been abused. The judiciary, I must say, comes to the aid of people who are falsely charged or whose voice of dissent is sought to be suppressed. Different judges have different ways of looking at things. By and large, the judiciary has been commendably forthright in supporting voices of dissent.

Perils are there in the abuse of law by law enforcers, and very often, this section (sedition) is put to action because of overcautiousness or out of ignorance. It should not be. On the whole, the authorities have understood the meaning of sedition. It should be clearly laid down that criticism of the government is not sedition, unless there is a call to violence. Suppose there is a cricket match and Pakistan wins and you clap for Pakistan... that’s not sedition. I may hold a different view and not like the person who claps. They say, ‘PakistanZindabad!’... that’s not sedition. ‘BharatMurdabad!’ in itself is not sedition. But if someone says, ‘ Bharat ke tukde kar do ’, the section can be invoked for incitement to violence. But they should be seen in the right context. Authorities should not be overenthusiastic in applying the provisions of the act.

I am against the view that sedition should be done away with altogether. It is required in some cases. If there is a call to do away with the state by resorting to violent means, this needs to be checked by a proper application of the sedition law. A misuse does not mean do away with sedition. Do away with the action, but retain the provision.

How do you view students being slapped with sedition charges? JNU? Why can’t they dissent? 
It was nonsense that they were slapped with sedition. Sedition needs to be understood properly. Sedition is not criticism of the government. In sedition, the essential element is by words or action; there is an incitement to violence. That’s the sine qua non of the offence of sedition. The police who slap such charges are ignorant of the law. Any criticism, they slap sedition. The authorities should have seen the action of the students rationally. Usually, there is not (a clear) understanding of the law. In one case, Arun Jaitley was slapped with sedition, if you please.

What do you have to say to reasonable restrictions of free speech in the context of dissent? Does it require a relook?
Reasonable restrictions should go with the facts of each case. Reasonable means the restrictions shouldn’t be excessive or disproportionate. It should have a rationale in relation to the objectives stated. If the objective is to prevent people from giving a call to violently overthrow the government, reasonable restrictions should be invoked, but that does not mean excessive usage. It does not imply doing away with the section on reasonable restrictions to free speech.

You were Attorney General during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s term as Prime Minister. What is the change you see from the Vajpayee era to the Modi era?
Mr. Vajpayee, of course, was far more tolerant. No question about it. Or, let me say, he appeared to be tolerant. Mr. Modi I wouldn’t say is intolerant, but is made to appear intolerant.

By whom?
By some people in the party he belongs to and by the Opposition. His party members make stupid statements like, ‘if you don’t like this, go to Pakistan.’ Those few do a great damage to the government and the Prime Minister.

But the Prime Minister has remained silent.
Yes, of course. And silence sometimes can imply consent. But a Prime Minister cannot react to everything. He has condemned gau rakshaks. He has said you cannot kill in the name of religion. India is such a vast country. The real issue is to sensitise people on the value of free speech and the importance of dissent. That can be done even in school and educational institutions.

What should India’s position be on the Rohingya issue?
Instinctively and on principle, I am against deporting them. Do they pose a threat to security? Do they affect public tranquillity? Unless we have a cogent evidence against them, we should not deport them.

It is possible that Aadhaar can be misused, but the possibility of misuse cannot be the ground for arguing that the law is not required.

On the whole, the authorities have understood the meaning of sedition. It should be clearly laid down that criticism of the government is not sedition, unless there is a call to violence.

Do the Rohingya pose a threat to security? Do they affect public tranquillity? Unless we have a cogent evidence against them, we should not deport them.