New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday was told that Aadhaar was “an electronic leash” to which every resident of India was tethered, and was violative of the Constitution as it reduces the recognition of an individual to a number.
Asserting that Aadhaar reduces the individual identity to a numerical, the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was told the “government has rolled out a little understood programme that seeks to tether every resident of India to an electronic leash”.
The court was told this by the senior counsel Shyam Divan as the constitution bench, also comprising Justice AK Sikri, Justice AK Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan, commenced hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar Act on the grounds of its being violative of the right to privacy.
“If the Aadhaar Act and programme is allowed to operate unimpeded it will hollow out the Constitution, particularly the great rights and liberties it assures to citizens,” said Divan appearing for the petitioners challenging Aadhaar Act.
Telling the constitution bench that “A People’s Constitution will transform into a State Constitution,” Divan said that the Aadhaar “electronic leash” is “connected to a central data base that is designed to track transactions across the life of the citizen”.
Brushing aside the Centre’s contention that challenge to Aadhaar was “elitist”, Divan said the question is “whether the Constitution of India allows the State to embrace this new programme or whether the Constitution repudiates this giant electronic mesh”.
He referred to the judgment of the nine-judge constitution bench which had upheld the right to privacy and said that challenge to Aadhaar was not elitist.
Agencies
