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 30, 2018

12809 - Padmaavat, Aadhaar to justice Loya case, Supreme Court has a busy week ahead - Hindustan Times

Padmaavat, Aadhaar to justice Loya case, Supreme Court has a busy week ahead

Here’s a list of cases that will come up in the Supreme Court this week:
INDIA Updated: Jan 28, 2018 20:25 Ist

HT Correspondent 
Hindustan Times, New Delhi

The Supreme Court will during the week continue to hear several important matters, including petitions that challenge Aadhaar, pleas for a probe into the death of CBI judge BH Loya and also the government’s plan to check stubble burning.

The Supreme Court will during the week continue to hear several important matters, including petitions that challenge Aadhaar, pleas for a probe into the death of CBI judge BH Loya and also the government’s plan to check stubble burning.
A list of cases in the country’s top court this week:

Padmaavat case
The controversial Bollywood period drama Padmaavat’s brush with law is still not over. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear a fresh petition that wants some scenes deleted from the film that was released on January 25 after a bruising battle with the censors and fringe outfits.

Advocate ML Sharma has questioned the censor board’s clearance to the film. The court on January 18 struck down a ban on the Deepika Padukone-starrer by four BJP-ruled states.

Aadhaar hearing
The court is holding day-to-day hearing of a clutch of petitions that challenge the 12-digit biometric identity number and the law that enables it.

Last week, the petitioners raised fears about privacy, security of data and a surveillance state. They also claimed that the biometrics – iris scans and finger prints – were not secured as several private firms were engaged by UIDAI, which is responsible for giving out Aadhaar numbers.

The government has told the court that a panel set up to put in place a data protection regime would submit its report by March. The panel is also expected to give its suggestion on broader question of cyber security.

Judge Loya case
Petitions seeking probe into the death of CBI judge BH Loya will be heard this week by a bench led by CJI Dipak Misra. The case was serious and it would hear the hear the matter objectively, the bench said last week, cautioning lawyers against dragging names of political leaders till it was proven that Loya’s death was unnatural.




Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh “fake encounter” case when he died of a cardiac arrest on December 1, 2014. BJP chief Amit Shah, an accused, was later discharged in the case.


Unitech case

Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra, lodged in Tihar jail in a cheating case, has filed for parole. A separate application on the progress the realty firm has made in talks for selling its assets has also been filed. The court had ordered Unitech to deposit Rs 750 crore by December-end for failing to hand over flats to homebuyers but it is yet to do it.

Chandra would get bail after the money is deposited, the court has said.

Air pollution
On Monday, the court will hear its environment pollution (prevention and control) authority’s response to a government proposal to tackle stubble burning, one of the big reasons for air pollution in Delhi.
Nudged by the court, the government had set up a task force to draw a plan to dissuade farmers in neighbouring states from burning paddy residue.

PIL on income declaration by netas, families
The court will take up a public interest litigation that wants politicians and their family members to declare their sources of income in poll affidavits.
It will also take up income-tax probe report against seven Lok Sabha and 98 assembly members. The I-T department has not disclosed the names or the party affiliation of the lawmakers whose asset declarations were found to be faulty.

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