Supreme Court to hear petition of Nagrik Chetna Manch on January 17

PUNE: The city-based Nagrik Chetna Manch's petition on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar will come up for hearing before the Supreme Court on January 17.
In the petition, the Manch has pointed out that the enrolment agencies, sub-registrars, registrars and UIDAI have no legal liability for any theft, fraud, crime, and compromise of any security or privacy that may be perpetuated through Aadhaar.

Petitioner Maj Gen (retd) SCN Jathar of the Manch told TOI that he was hoping that the hearing will address privacy and security issues of Aadhaar.

The Manch's petition was filed in October 2013 and is among the 20-odd petitions pertaining to Aadhaar to be heard by the SC. It has made the Reserve Bank of India, the Election Commission of India and the Registrar General of India as respondents.

Qaneez Sukhrani, a member of the Manch, too questioned the security of data in the repository and the recent issues of breach.

Activist and e-governance expert Anupam Saraph who has been part of "Rethink Aadhaar" campaign said the RBI had warned in its file notings in 2011 that the Aadhaar enrolment process does not have due diligence. "The RBI had observed that a document like Aadhaar cannot be a proof of address. It said the vulnerability of the (Aadhaar) system has not been tested and co-mingling funds of different banks in the hands of business correspondents was a major operational risk to the banks," Saraph said.

In the Manch's petition too, the use of Aadhaar in banking has raised serious concerns about the safety of the money.

The petition has sought that electoral rolls readied with Aadhaar as a proof of identity or address be revised and the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 25 (2) be applied. It has also sought that the compilation of the National Population Register be done without any direct or indirect linkage or use of Aadhaar or its machinery.