Govt hints at amendments to Aadhaar Act to accommodate SC verdict

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

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