18:03 After a heated day of debate in the Supreme Court over Aadhaar, the court has adjourned for the day and the hearing will continue tomorrow.
15:53 Justice Chandrachud asks if Aadhaar can be used only for verification or if it can also be tracked back and will Aadhaar be safe if the biometric is used only for the purpose it was collected for. He also asks why the State requires the biometric information to prevent leakages in social welfare.
15:13 Justices AK Sikri and DY Chandrachud seek to know how Aadhaar seek to know how is the Aadhaar biometrics system different from the biometrics for US Visa and what the petitioners have to say about the data what was collected before the Aadhaar become a law, i.e. between 2009 and 2016. They ask if that data too should be destroyed.
15:09 Senior Supreme Court lawyer, Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners, told the five-judge Constitution bench that 'Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights. A people's Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State's Constitution.'
14:58 Justice Chandrachud is the first judge to make any observation during the proceedings, pointing that very few posts have been filled in the organization. Divan highlights that this shows the the lack of governmental oversight in the organization, despite the fact that they are to keep a track of the organization's functions.
14:36 Final arguments in Aadhaar validity case begins before the Constitution Bench. The second session has begun with Divan highlighting to the court the composition and responsibilities of the Aadhaar body.
14:35 The first petition challenging Aadhaar was filed by Former High Court Judge Justice KS Puttaswamy in 2012
14:06 With Aadhaar hearing going, UIDAI is posting a series of tweets under the trend #AadhaarMythBuster where, in one of the tweets they state - "UIDAI does not keep a track of the nature of transactions done using Aadhaar. This means that when you verify your bank account or mobile SIM with Aadhaar, UIDAI does not get your bank account details or mobile number. ##AadhaarMythBuster"
13:43 Prior to the lunch break, Divan stressed on the technological issues involving Aadhaar. He pointed that since UIDAI doesn’t use a deterministic identity system and a probabilistic one for biometric verification, it is leading to exclusion from entitlements if and when the biometrics don’t match.
12:57 The hearing will resume at 2.30 pm, post-lunch break.
12:40 Petitioners' demands -
>A formal declaration from the Court where they state that they will protect the physical autonomy of individuals against the State.
>If not this, then the petitioners demand the right to opt out of the Aadhaar program and for their Aadhaar data to be destroyed.
>If the Act is still held to be constitutional, then the petitioners demand the court to pass an order assuring that citizens without the Aadhaar will not be deprived of the rights or benefits where linking of Aadhaar has become complusory.
12:22 Divan says,“Effectively today, you cannot live as a citizen of India without an Aadhaar,” reports The Quint.
12:16 Divan points that both - Aadhaar Act and Aadhaar project - are different. The Act is that it overlaps only some aspects of the project. The project also includes the problems with additional legislation, declarations, etc.
12:12 Advocate Shyam Divan placed his arguments for the petitioners. He points that there are two main segments of the Aadhaar that are being challenged - the Aadhaar project/program and the Aadhaar Act.
11:47 JUST IN | Five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court begins hearing the matter related to constitutional validity of Aadhaar, reports ANI
11:38 The deadline for linking Aadhaar to the services were extended, last year, to March 31 2018. However, reports have suggested that talks between the concerned parties are going on to seek the need of whether extending the deadline from the March 31 date is required.
11:34 The Aadhaar will face its biggest test today. The Supreme Court will hear the legality of Aadhaar and look into the Centre's decision of linking Aadhaar with a whole range of schemes. The case will be looked into by a five-judge Bench and the expected time for the procedures to begin is 2pm today.
After a heated day of debate in the Supreme Court over Aadhaar, the court has adjourned for the day and the hearing will continue tomorrow.
Justice Chandrachud asks if Aadhaar can be used only for verification or if it can also be tracked back and will Aadhaar be safe if the biometric is used only for the purpose it was collected for. He also asks why the State requires the biometric information to prevent leakages in social welfare.
Justices AK Sikri and DY Chandrachud seek to know how Aadhaar seek to know how is the Aadhaar biometrics system different from the biometrics for US Visa and what the petitioners have to say about the data what was collected before the Aadhaar become a law, i.e. between 2009 and 2016. They ask if that data too should be destroyed.
Justice Chandrachud is the first judge to make any observation during the proceedings, pointing that very few posts have been filled in the organization. Divan highlights that this shows the the lack of governmental oversight in the organization, despite the fact that they are to keep a track of the organization's functions.
Final arguments in Aadhaar validity case begins before the Constitution Bench. The second session has begun with Divan highlighting to the court the composition and responsibilities of the Aadhaar body.
The first petition challenging the unique identification, Aadhaar, was filed in 2012 by Former High Court Judge Justice KS Puttaswamy
Prior to the lunch break, Divan stressed on the technological issues involving Aadhaar. He pointed that since UIDAI doesn’t use a deterministic identity system and a probabilistic one for biometric verification, it is leading to exclusion from entitlements if and when the biometrics don’t match.
The hearing will resume at 2.30 pm, post-lunch break
Petitioners' demands -
>A formal declaration from the Court where they state that they will protect the physical autonomy of individuals against the State.
>If not this, then the petitioners demand the right to opt out of the Aadhaar program and for their Aadhaar data to be destroyed.
>If the Act is still held to be constitutional, then the petitioners demand the court to pass an order assuring that citizens without the Aadhaar will not be deprived of the rights or benefits where linking of Aadhaar has become complusory.
Divan says,“Effectively today, you cannot live as a citizen of India without an Aadhaar,” reports The Quint.
Divan points that both - Aadhaar Act and Aadhaar project - are different. The Act is that it overlaps only some aspects of the project. The project also includes the problems with additional legislation, declarations, etc.
Advocate Shyam Divan placed his arguments for the petitioners. He points that there are two main segments of the Aadhaar that are being challenged - the Aadhaar project/program and the Aadhaar Act.
The deadline for linking Aadhaar to the services were extended, last year, to March 31 2018. However, reports have suggested that talks between the concerned parties are going on to seek the need of whether extending the deadline from the March 31 date is required.
The case will take a look at the legality of the Aadhaar(Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act which was enacted in 2016. The Bench is expected to sit at 2 pm where the Centre's decision on linking of Aadhaar with a whole range of schemes will be looked into.
The petitioners have argued that Aadhaar violates the fundamental right to privacy and claimed that it can enable state surveillance.
The nine-judge bench under Justice Khehar had then not dealt with the validity of Aadhaar. It had left the matter to the five-judge bench. The Supreme Court had then asked the government set up a strong data protection.
Meanwhile, the deadline for linking SIM/mobile number to Aadhaar has been extended to March 31.
Subsequently, in December, the government had extended the deadline for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) for financial transactions and bank accounts to March 31, 2018.
Last year, a nine-judge Constitution Bench led by JS Khehar, then CJI, had ruled that privacy was a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.
A five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI Dipak Misra will commence the much-awaited hearing on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar cards today.
It is likely to be a busy day for the Supreme Court as it will take up about 27 pleas against Aadhaar. The final hearing on the pleas challenging Aadhaar comes five years since the first was filed.
