Our country is going through a significant churn right now. Many fundamental questions of citizens’ rights are being addressed and settled by the Supreme Court. Though the judgements may not impact us directly yet, they have important and far-reaching implications for all of us. The recent striking down of section 377 of the IPC is one such. The 26 September 2018 judgement on Aadhaar cards is another; significant and consequential for us all. This is what the 5 judge bench essentially said:
One of the longest ever hearings, spread out over 38 days, culminated in the Adhaar verdict, which upheld the constitutional validity of the universal identity division of India or UIDAI. However, section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which hitherto permitted private corporations body to ask for Aadhaar data has been struck down as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court has clarified that Aadhaar will be required for PAN cards, filing IT returns and any welfare schemes that dispense subsidies or other benefits. Private companies, banks, mobile services and educational institutions can no longer demand Aadhaar cards for services, bank account opening, SIMs, admissions, entrance tests and so on.
The judgement upholding the validity of Aadhaar was a 4-1 majority verdict and not a unanimous one. Justice Chandrachud, in his dissenting judgement held it to be unconstitutional, violative of citizens’ privacy rights and a potential tool for surveillance. Also, very importantly, he addressed the issue of the act being passed as a money bill, which in his view amounted to fraud.
As with several previous cases, the Supreme Court appears to have tried to please all concerned by ruling partly in favour of those opposing Aadhaar and partly in favour of those supporting Aadhaar. The SC upheld the government's contention that Aadhaar was necessary for all welfare schemes. So the difficulty of the poor getting access – to creating Aadhaar IDs as well as scheme benefits – remains a problem. The verdict will not prevent tragic deaths resulting from many underprivileged citizens being unable to get their just dues merely because they do not possess an Aadhaar card.
A significant point of contention between Aadhaar supporters and detractors is the backdoor passage of the Aadhaar Act. Detractors believe that the act was passed fraudulently as a money bill merely to hurry it through parliament without debate when in fact this not a money bill. There is the apprehension that the verdict; by upholding this modus operandi creates a dangerous precedent for the government to disguise other bills as financial bills as well.
The ruling BJP has welcomed the judgement and termed it a victory for the government; concluding that the judgement is tantamount to declaring Aadhaar safe and pro-poor.
The concept of Aadhaar was introduced during the UPA II tenure (when incidentally the BJP had strenuously opposed it), so the Congress as the current opposition party has welcomed the #AadhaarVerdict.
Crores of Indians have already been coerced into sharing their Aadhaar information with private entities. Banks, phone companies and many other private entities have refused to entertain people without Aadhaar cards; with the result that the personal data of numberless citizens is already in their possession. Most of us with phone connections have responded to dire warnings issued by our service providers and have linked our Aadhaar to bank accounts, phone numbers and more. Will we now be able to delink these? Can we ask for companies to delete all the personal data they have of ours?
This is not clear yet. It is likely that private entities will resist such a move because asking for aadhaar details simplifies KYC procedures for them. They are unlikely to want to devote time and resources to this exercise again. However, we do know now, that when service providers demand Aadhaar details from us, we can tell them to go take a hike. In no uncertain terms.
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