Aadhaar data leak case: Chandigarh Press Club to hold protest march against UIDAI tomorrow

The Chandigarh Press Club has criticised UIDAI for having registered an FIR in the alleged data theft case reported by a Chandigarh-based English daily The Tribune on January 3 against the newspaper and its reporter.

Manjeet Sehgal
Chandigarh, January 7, 2018 | UPDATED 23:56 IST
Image for representationImage for representation

Highlights

  • 1
    UIDAI has filed an FIR in the alleged data theft case against The Tribune and its reporter.
  • 2
    The daily ran a story on how one can access Aadhaar details for just Rs 500.
  • 3
    The UIDAI had denied the allegations.

The Chandigarh Press Club has criticised Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for having registered an FIR in the alleged data theft case reported by a Chandigarh-based English daily The Tribune on January 3 against the newspaper and its Jalandhar-based reporter Rachna Khaira.

The Press Club also announced that it will stage a protest march till Governor House and will submit a memorandum against the authority. "This is condemnable as the government is now targeting the fourth estate. Journalists are now being made a soft target  and the Governing Council of Chandigarh Press Club in an emergent meeting has decided to organise a protest against the decision on Monday afternoon. The journalist will form a human chain and will march upto the Governor House and will submit him a memorandum," said Chandigarh Press Club president Jaswant Rana.

When contacted The Tribune staffers said they stand by their story and also criticised the UIDAI authorities for targeting the daily after it published a story 'Rs 500, 10 minutes, and you have access to billion Aadhaar details ' claiming that the Aadhaar data was unsafe and it was on sale for a few hundred rupees.

"See this is a classic case of  shooting the messenger than acting against the culprits. The entire journalistic fraternity is against the UIDAI decision and we stand by our story," said The Tribune bureau chief Amarjit Thind.

The daily on January 3 had claimed that its reporter purchased an Aadhaar data service being offered by anonymous sellers on WhatsApp which provided unrestricted access to the details of more than one billion Aadhaar numbers.

The UIDAI had denied the allegations and its Chandigarh-based regional office had also filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell of Mohali, Punjab Police.

"We have received a complaint which is being examined. Further action will be taken after the investigation is over,"  AIG, Cyber Cell, Punjab Police H S Maan told India Today.

However, the Delhi Police, on the basis of a complaint filed by the UIDAI, has registered a case against the daily, its reporter and three other accused, including Raj, Sunil Kumar and Anil Kumar, whose names were mentioned in the story  under IPC Sections 419 (Punishment for Cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating),468 (forgery) and 471 (forged documents)  besides the Section 66 of  IT Act  and Section 36 and 37 of Aadhaar Act.