Aadhaar Verdict

  • The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of India’s ambitious biometric identity project, ‘Aadhaar’, saying it benefited the marginalized and poor, but sharply reined in a government push to make it mandatory for various services.
  • In a ruling with far-reaching consequences, a panel of five judges cleared the use of Aadhaar for welfare schemes, saying it empowered the poor and marginalized.
  • A majority of the panel ruled the programme had merits, but struck down provisions in the act that made its use mandatory in applications for services ranging from bank accounts to mobile telephone connections and school admissions.
  • The court also ruled unconstitutional the use of Aadhaar by companies to establish an individual’s identity.

The Judgement:

  • The first issue that was analysed was the validity of the act. The act was passed as a money bill by the speaker.
  • Now the court start to realize that whether the apex court by the instrument of judicial review to examine the Discretion of speaker to name a bill as money bill.
  • Over the year’s money has been spent in creating Aadhaar infrastructure and tax payer’s money has been spent.
  • Considering the above fact, the Apex court took this decision to examine the provisions of the Law.

Implications:

  • The Aadhaar has been successfully in combating the shell companies but now there is no means to control them.
  • It was helpful in preventing leakages in transferring benefits, it was the fulcrum of DBT.
  • It can help identify the criminals easily and to assist security agencies.
  • The benefits clearly outweigh the negative face.
  • Until or unless the Parliament determine the limits of the right to privacy and debate about its reasonable restrictions the issue will continue.
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