Govt hints at amendments to Aadhaar Act to accommodate SC verdict

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his understanding of the verdict was that the Supreme Court had barred the use of Aadhaar by private entities such as mobile phone firms in the absence of a legislative backing for that. He said the prohibited areas, such as linking with mobile phone, were not perpetually prohibited but could be procedurally prohibited — indicating the government could bring in a law to this effect.

“Section 57 (of the Aadhaar Act that has been struck down by the Supreme Court) says there can be special enabling power to allow other entities or body corporate (to use Aadhaar). That is not permissible unless it is backed by law. That seems to be the spirit of the judgment,” he said.

Asked about the requirement of Aadhaar-linking with bank accounts and mobile phones now, Jaitley said: “Let us first read the judgment. There are two-three prohibited areas. Are they because they are totally prohibited or are they because they need legal backing? So my answer in general... on these private entities, (is) it needs to be backed by law. That’s my understanding. I still have a detailed reading of the judgment to do.”

“The prohibited areas do not assume are perpetually prohibited they could be procedurally prohibited or they could be prohibited as such,” he said.

Law and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the court had held that the purpose of issuing Aadhaar to all Indian citizens was legitimate and no surveillance was possible.

“The whole concept of a unique identity number that has been accepted after judicial review is an extremely welcome decision,” Jaitley said, adding the court had also upheld that the Aadhaar legislation was a money Bill.

While the five-judge Bench acknowledged the constitutional validity of the Bill, Justice D Y Chandrachud issed a strongly worded dissent note.

The minister showered compliments on Aadhaar’s architect Nandan Nilekani and the programme’s current head Ajay Bhushan Pandey. He said 1.22 billion people now have the unique identification cards, used to disperse government subsidy and welfare measures. “There are no fake or duplicate or non-existent beneficiaries (of government schemes). We are already saving Rs 900 billion every year,” he said.

“This judgment is a judgment of empowering democracy, good governance, service delivery, and also empowering the ordinary Indian,” Prasad said.