QBullet: Aadhaar Case in Final Lap;
THE QUINT18.01.18
INDIA8 min read
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1. Aadhaar Tool to Stifle Dissent, SC Told
A five-judge constitution bench that on Wednesday began hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar was told that the scheme enables the government to stifle dissent, influence political decision-making, was reminiscent of totalitarian regimes and reduced people to servitude.
Appearing for former Karnataka High Court judge K Puttaswamy and some others, senior advocate Shyam Divan told the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the Aadhaar scheme had several glitches as at least 6.23 crore people were excluded from enrolment after they applied for duplicate cards.
Many people apply for such cards either because of change of address or loss of the original. However, when they apply for duplicate cards, the Aadhaar authentification process fails to acknowledge them, thus denying them various benefits as the government has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar cards with bank accounts, mobile phones and other services, Divan said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
Also Read: To Link or Not to Link? Final Hearing on Aadhaar Begins in SC
2. Supreme Court Crisis: Four Judges Have a Plan for CJI Dipak Misra to Reform Roster, Two More Join Them at Meeting
The four Supreme Court judges, who last week made public their grievances against Chief Justice Dipak Misra, met late Wednesday evening with two other Supreme Court judges and finalised a proposal which they hope will break the current impasse, sources told The Indian Express.
The proposal, expected to be handed over to the CJI Thursday, deals with formalising a “rational, orderly and transparent system” to allocate cases to different benches of the Supreme Court.
Its details were not available but sources said the idea is to insulate the roster from allegations of favour.
This meeting came at the end of a day when “Court Number 2” of the Supreme Court did not function due to “the unavailability” of Justice J Chelameswar who took the day off.
(Source: The Indian Express)