UIDAI’s CEO Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey will give a presentation after the court accepts Centre’s appeal
The Centre on Wednesday sought the Supreme Court’s permission to allow Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey to give a power point presentation in the court to allay the concerns regarding the Aadhaar act.
Cheif Justice of India Dipak Misra, who is heading the five-judge bench hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, said the time for presentation will be fixed after discussions with other judges. The bench also includes Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.
The bench said there are several technical aspects related to the Aadhaar scheme such as the surveillance, data security and exclusion of certain people from receiving benefits for the want of either authentication or the lack of Aadhaar number that needs to be addressed.
The court, on Tuesday, took note of the submission that a person cannot be asked to part with personal information under the Aadhaar scheme on the ground of freedom of right to religion, and asked can a person refuse to follow the law in secular matters such as filing of income-tax returns.
Listening to a petition of a Christian man who claimed that the Aadhaar impinges on his religious beliefs and was against the tenets of the Bible, the bench said, “”In secular matters, can you say that I will not opt for it. For example, can a person refuse to opt for the Income-Tax saying that his conscience does not allow it.”
Earlier, the apex court extended the March 31 deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar for services like bank account and mobile numbers till the bench delivered its verdict on the validity of the 12-digit biometric number. The bench said its interim order of December 15, 2017, fixing the March deadline, “shall stand extended till the matter is finally heard and the judgment is pronounced”.
(With PTI inputs)