The Aadhaar verdict and class bias

So far, only the Delhi government has discontinued monthly Aadhaar authentication in ration shops

One year ago, 11-year-old school girl Santoshi Kumari died of starvation in her mother’s arms, crying out for bhaat (rice). Her dalit family had both ration and Aadhaar cards, but since the two were not linked, the family was denied foodgrains for six months at a stretch. Local activists had even complained repeatedly to district officials about the family’s worsening plight. But in twenty-first century “Digital India”, Santoshi’s starvation death is symbolic of the schizophrenic apathy of the administrative machinery to India’s impoverished citizens.

The Supreme Court majority judgment on Aadhaar also displays this singular class bias. On the one hand,