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Mandatory requirement of Aadhar Card

May 3, 2017 | Expert Insights

What does the legislative body of India state over Aadhar cards?

The Central Government contended before the Supreme Court on 3rd of May, 2017 that it is mandatory for the citizens to have a unique identification number and hence a person cannot refuse to provide their samples of fingerprints and iris. The idea of Aadhar card was introduced by Nandan Nilekani on 26th November of 2012. The vision behind the Aadhar Card is to empower residents of India with a unique identity and a digital platform to facilitate authentication.

 Aadhar Card to help in prevention of money laundering

Recently, the Aadhar card has been gaining lot of prominence due to its mandatory requirement in to conduct transactions like opening a bank account, applying for PAN card or for filing income tax returns. The reasons behind this step as stated by the government is, to trace out the black money that is being used in prejudice to the national security.

Analysis

Around 113.7 crore Aadhar cards have been produced so far which is a good result. The Attorney General defending government argued that duplication of Aadhar card if “non-existent” unlike PAN. Therefore the government expects to have an orderly government as a result of lessons borrowed from governing systems abroad such social security number in the US.

There have been considerable oppositions to the mandatory requirement of Aadhar Card. The main justification given for the opposing the mandatory requirement is the “Right to body” and the “Right to Privacy”. Taking fingerprints and iris impressions for Aadhar card purposes where the citizen does not volunteer can violate such citizen’s right over his own body. The State does not have the right to force a citizen to part with biometric details without free, informed and voluntary consent. When it comes to privacy, the information of transactions linked with Aadhar card can be easily accessible by State at their convenience.

On the other hand, the Attorney General defending the government shunned the claims of bodily integrity and privacy as bogus and emphasised on the higher objective of preventing the flow of black money for unlawful purposes. He stated that one cannot have absolute rights over one’s own body. There are provisions under Indian law which criminalises suicide and can grant right over a person’s body to authorities such as police when the person is an accused. Another argument made by government was regarding the people’s difference of opinion regarding the aadhar biometric scan and the photographs on passport and visas which are mandatory too. When a person conveniently parts with photographs and thumb impressions for passports and visas, they ought to be compliant to aadhar requirements.

Assessment

The initiative of UIDAI in introducing Aadhar card is rather commendable. The unique identification system can improve order and transparency in governance. The interests of the State have to be placed on a higher pedestal as compared to Right to Privacy and Body of individuals. However the Aadhar cards should not be made mandatory for the economically and socially weaker sections for getting the benefits under welfare schemes. Apart from the welfare scheme concern, the government should take active steps in replacing all other types of Identity cards such as voter IDs, PAN cards etc.