NEW DELHI: Issuance of new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six requires legislative intervention and appropriate amendments in the existing legal framework, the Supreme Court said on Monday.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi was hearing a public interest litigation seeking to direct the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six.
The court said that the appropriate solution for the petitioner is to draw the attention of the state and other stakeholders to all these issues to enable them to be aware of them.
I disposed of the petition with a direction to treat it as representation on behalf of the petitioner.
The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to set strict guidelines for issuance of Aadhaar to teenagers and adults to prevent hackers from masquerading as Indian citizens.
It has requested a direction to the authorities to install display boards at shared service centers indicating that the 12-digit unique identification number is merely “proof of identity” and not proof of nationality, address or date of birth.
“As is evident from the nature of the exemptions, most of them require legislative intervention and appropriate amendments to the existing legal framework,” the bench said.
Upadhyay told the bench that UIDAI has issued Rs 144 crore Aadhaar and nearly 99 per cent of Indians have registered.
“Refer these issues to Parliament and the government. They will take care of them,” the council noted.
The petitioner said it was not an adversarial case and the petition was to prevent hackers from obtaining Aadhaar.
He pointed out the issue of fake documents and said that anyone with a lease can get Aadhaar.
“Raise your complaints to the Union government. It will take appropriate steps,” the council said.
The Tribunal, without expressing any opinion on the merits, disposed of the petition with the direction that it be treated as a representation on behalf of the petitioner.
Along with all states and union territories, the appeal has been made to UIDAI which is the authority that issues Aadhaar and the ministries of home, law, justice, electronics and IT as federal parties.
The petition, filed by advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, which was originally intended as proof of identity, has increasingly become a “foundational document” that enables individuals to obtain other identity documents, such as ration cards, housing certificates and voter ID cards.
“UIDAI has issued Rs 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 per cent Indians have registered. Therefore, the petitioner files this petition as a PIL under Article 32, and seeks a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar only for children and frame new strict guidelines for teenagers and adults, so as to prevent hackers from obtaining it and masquerading as Indian citizens,” it said.
She said the need to file the petition arose when the petitioner came to know the way hackers could get access to Aadhaar through a weak and easily manipulated verification process.
“Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the ‘Foreigner’ category. But hackers apply for Aadhaar under the ‘Indian Citizen’ category and get it easily. After that, they get a ration card, birth and residence certificate, driving license, etc., so that they are essentially indistinguishable from Indian citizens…”
Besides looking for other directions, the petition raised legal questions, including whether the 2016 Aadhaar Act has been rendered “temporarily unconscionable” by failing to keep pace with the legislative intent of discriminating between foreigners and Indian nationals.
She said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted social welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
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