Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said registration of a case following expose on how the Aadhar data base was being breached by unscrupulous elements in which The Tribune and its correspondent had been named was unfortunate.
In a statement here, Badal said though Union Minister of Information and Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad had made it clear that the FIR registered in the case was against unknown persons, he said the very fact that The Tribune correspondent Rachna Khaira as well as three others had been named in the FIR had given an impression that they would be proceeded against as per the law. “This impression needs to be dispelled immediately and the Union Government must take corrective steps to ensure that the journalist as well as The Tribune is not proceeded against in any manner,” he said in a statement.
"We understand that it is necessary to maintain security as well as ensure sanctity of Aadhar data for development of the country, but at the same time it should not seem that any journalist pointing out breaches in this system is proceeded against in any manner. The news story of The Tribune should be taken as input for investigation and the newspaper should be asked to assist in the inquiry against elements who were putting India’s security at risk”, he stated.
The SAD president said The Tribune’s name as well as that of its correspondent and the whistle blowers who facilitated the Aadhar expose should be taken out of the FIR registered on this issue.