A five-member bench of the Supreme Court on September 26 held that the Aadhaar Act, 2016, was constitutionally valid, but opted to strike down some provisions. Here are the key takeaways from the apex court's verdict.
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Under Section 7 of the Constitution, admission to schools is not deemed a benefit scheme. Therefore, the Supreme Court ruled that the non-submission of Aadhaar details cannot be a criterion to deny admission.
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It is no longer necessary to furnish Aadhaar information to open a bank account. This means that those who are yet to be enrolled will not be excluded from accessing financial services.
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The ruling states that only the government has the right to ask for Aadhaar details of citizens. Private companies such as mobile wallet operators and airlines cannot insist on Aadhaar information.
Obtaining a new mobile connection has been made easier. The submission of Aadhaar will not be required for getting a new SIM card. Previously, Aadhaar ID and thumb impression of new applicants was compulsory.
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The PAN card, which is a basic identifier of an individual's financial holdings, will have to be linked with Aadhaar. Since bank accounts are linked to PAN card information, the Aadhaar database will indirectly be linked to bank accounts of citizens. This is aimed at the verification of income tax claims.
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The court verdict has laid down a list of applications for which the use of Aadhaar is permissible for authentication purposes. However, it also said that authentication records cannot be stored in the database for over six months.
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The verdict has drawn a clear line between data privacy and use of Aadhaar to preempt cases of fraud and white-collar crime. Agencies looking into such cases have to acquire a judicial warrant for accessing the data of individuals under investigation.
The five-judge bench ruled that children should not be denied benefits on account of non-enrollment with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Admission to schools and other benefits such as mid-day meals will not henceforth be withheld from children not possessing an Aadhaar card.
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For minors, the express permission of the parents is mandatory for a child's enrollment in the Aadhaar database. Aadhar enrollment drives conducted by the government in schools cannot process the biometric details of children without getting the approval of their parents.
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To ensure that admission to government institutions will not be out of the reach of students not enrolled with the UIDAI, the judges hearing the petition on Aadhaar ruled that it was not mandatory to furnish their unique IDs while applying for exams conducted by CBSE and NEET.
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To ensure the sanctity of data stored in the Aadhaar database, no such card will be issued to illegal immigrants. Applications will be vetted thoroughly to ensure that those who are residing in the country without the warranted documents are not legitimized through Aadhaar enrollment.
