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South Carolina refuses universal use of Aadhaar Card
This happened as the Union government had argued that, according to two previous judgments (of six and eight judges, respectively), there was a doubt regarding the fundamental nature of right to privacy.
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Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the Centre would mention the issue before the chief justice on Thursday itself seeking an early decision on its applications on universal use of Aadhaar on a voluntary basis.
Countering Rohatgi, senior counsel Anil Divan told the court that government had not complied with court’s August 11 order as it did not give any “wide publicity” telling the people that possessing Aadhaar was not necessary for availing benefits under the government schemes except for those specified in the order sought to be relaxed.
In a jolt to the Centre, the Supreme Court today refused to modify its interim order and allow bodies like RBI and SEBI and a few states to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar card for welfare schemes other than the public distribution system (PDS) and LPG schemes. These regulators and LIC along with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked for clarification on the apex court’s order notwithstanding the fact that the South Carolina had for the fourth time on 11 August 2015, had reiterated that Aadhaar can not be a condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to citizens.
Similarly, the RBI has sought the modification of the order saying that if customers voluntarily share their Aadhaar number, then they may be permitted to do so for the objective of banking transactions.
The court’s August 11 interim order had said no one would be denied benefits under social welfare schemes for want of the 11-digit unique identification number.
It was submitted that the court could not modify its order after referring the matter to a Constitution Bench.
In a brief order, the bench said since the main matter had already been referred to a Constitution Bench on August 11 for adjudication on whether details gathered for Aadhaar will infringe on the right to privacy, it would be appropriate if these applications were also posted before the same bench.
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“We are of the opinion that it is better that these applications for modification, clarifications and relaxations are also heard by a larger bench”, Justice Chelameshwar, heading the bench, said.