Aadhaar: The spirit of the dissent may outlast the verdict of the court

The SC's Aadhaar judgment is reminiscent of the judicial approval for denying fundamental rights during the emergency

Benjamin Franklin who helped father the American Constitution wrote - "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." If the jurisprudence of the Indian Supreme Court is something to go by, this warning has been largely unheeded. 

Over the years, the Court has upheld the law of sedition, holding that it is necessary for the state to “preserve itself.” The preventive detention provisions of the National Security Act, were upheld despite the Court holding that the phrase ‘national