SC OKs Aadhaar but with caveats, both sides of bruising debate claim victory

Observing that 'Aadhaar' neither tends to create a "surveillance state" nor it infringed the Right to Privacy, the Supreme Court Wednesday declared that the Centre's biometric identity project was constitutionally valid but limited the scope, ruling it is not mandatory for bank accounts, mobile connections or school admissions.

The verdict, which will have a far reaching impact, was widely welcomed, with both sides in the acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits, claiming victory.

In a 4-1 verdict that also quashed some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar act, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, held Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax(IT) returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN) and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

"It is better to be unique than the best. Because, being the best makes you the number one, but being unique makes you the only one," said the top court after a long-drawn bruising legal battle against the government's ambitious project--the world's largest biometric ID database.

Ruling that seeding of Aadhaar would not be required for opening bank accounts, availing mobile services, by CBSE, NEET, JEE, UGC and for admissions in schools and free education for children, the court observed that Aadhaar had also become a household name and that its use has spread like "wildfire".

"Aadhaar gives dignity to the marginalised. Dignity to the marginalised outweighs privacy," said justice Sikri, who was in the majority, while reading out the operative part of the 1,448-page judgement in the packed courtroom of the CJI. "One can't throw the baby out with the bathwater."
The submission that Aadhaar violated Right to privacy did not cut much ice as the bench said, "It is held that all matters pertaining to an individual do not qualify as being an inherent part of right to privacy. Only those matters over which there would be a reasonable expectation of privacy are protected by Article 21.",