NEW DELHI: All eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Wednesday when a five-judge constitution bench led by CJI Dipak Misra delivers the judgment on constitutional validity of Aadhaar, challenged by 31 petitions on grounds that it violated the right to privacy of citizens.The SC order will have implications for linking Aadhaar to government welfare and financial inclusion schemes, bank accounts and PAN cards, UID authentication by private entities and also address concerns over exclusion, privacy and security as regards storage and use of biometric data of 122 crore individuals currently enrolled by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).A bench of CJI Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan will determine if use of Aadhaar violates right to privacy and should be struck down. On an alternative, there is a possibility the SC could uphold validity of Aadhaar and yet call for robust data protection regime to safeguard personal data linked to Aadhaar and rule out a big brother regime.On August 24 last year, while delivering its ruling giving right to privacy the status of a fundamental right, the SC had said the Centre may have justifiable reasons, apart from security concerns, for collection and storage of data. If on one hand, the SC rejected the Centre's argument that privacy could not be treated as a fundamental right to scuttle right to food of millions through Aadhaar-linked welfare schemes, it conceded the need for collection of personal data to ensure essential items reached needy.Justice Chandrachud, writing the main judgment in the right to privacy issue, had said, “In a social welfare state, the government embarks upon programmes which provide benefits to impoverished and marginalised sections of society. There is a vital state interest in ensuring that scarce public resources are not dissipated by diversion of resources to persons who do not qualify as recipients.”But the fate of Aadhaar remains in the realm of speculation till the five-judge bench delivers its verdict on Wednesday. The government has argued that Aadhaar linkage will curb tax evasion and crime as use of multiple PAN cards and fictitious bank accounts will be checked by UID’s near-foolproof identity authentication.Wednesday will be a mega day in the Supreme Court as it would also deliver a verdict on whether to refer to a seven-judge bench the request for reconsideration of the 2006 judgment in the Nagraj case, in which the apex court had inserted three caveats while upholding validity of quota in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Tribes government employees.The Supreme Court will also give its decision on PILs seeking live streaming of court proceedings. During the hearing, the court had agreed with attorney general K K Venugopal to start delayed live streaming on an experimental basis in the Chief Justice of India’s courtroom pertaining to important constitutional issues.The court will also give its verdict on another PIL filed by NGO ‘Lok Prahari’ demanding that once an MP, MLA or MLC was convicted and sentenced to two or more years of jail and so disqualified, no court should stay conviction in the interim stage of appeal to permit a convicted politician to resume membership of the House.The Supreme Court will also pronounce on a petition by Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who has sought dismissal of a petition in Gujarat high court challenging his election to Rajya Sabha in August last year.<doc-sep>The Supreme Court struck down the national security exception in the Aadhaar Act, the scheme's enabling law, as well as Section 57 of the Act, which permits private entities to avail Aadhaar data. The Supreme Court on Wednesday said Aadhaar, the ambitious public scheme that uses biometric data to generate unique identification numbers for citizens, is constitutionally valid. Delivering the majority opinion of the five-judge Constitution bench, Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice AM Khanwilkar said there was a "sufficient defence mechanism" for authentication in the scheme. Justice DY Chandrachud dissented, and Justice Ashok Bhushan concurred with the majority judgment. Aadhaar means unique, and it's better to be unique than being the best, the court said. It struck down the national security exception in the Aadhaar Act, the scheme's enabling law, as well as Section 57 of the Act, which permits private entities to avail Aadhaar data. We welcome the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act. Private entities are no longer allowed to use Aadhaar for verification purposes. #AadhaarVerdict Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2018 The court said it wasn't mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts or mobile numbers, but that that the identification was compulsory for the filing of I-T returns and for the allotment of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN). It said no child can be denied benefits of any schemes if he or she can't produce an Aadhaar number. The CBSE, the NEET, and the UGC can't make Aadhaar mandatory, and the scheme isn't compulsory for school admissions, the court said. The court also directed the government not to to give illegal immigrants Aadhaar. THE VERDICT IN A NUTSHELL The Supreme Court said there was nothing in the Aadhaar Act that violates a person's right to privacy, while striking down a couple of its provisions. Three judges delivered the majority judgment. The court said it isn't mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts or mobile numbers, and upheld the passing of the Aadhaar Bill as a Money Bill by the Lok Sabha. Justice Chandrachud (who wasn't one of the judges who delivered the majority opinion), said the collection of data may lead to the individual profiling of citizens. It's impossible to live in India without Aadhaar, and it's violative of Article 14, he said. The Constitution bench had reserved its verdict on May 10. It heard petitions challenging Aadhaar's constitutional validity on grounds that it violated the fundamental right to privacy. Today's verdict concludes a 38-day hearing held over four months, the second-longest oral hearing in history, and concerns a programme that already covers more than 122 crore Indians. A number of services, such as government welfare schemes, require Aadhaar authentification. The Aadhaar project has received praise on one hand -- Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, for example, has said it "leads to good governance and savings" -- but likened to a mass surveillance system on the other. Data protection and security have been hot topics in recent months. Women standing in a queue to get themselves enrolled for the Unique Identification database system in Rajasthan's Merta district, on February 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) CONTROVERSIAL SCHEME Aadhaar has a long history that can traced back to the Kargil War (read more here). In recent years, it has faced multiple challenges in the Supreme Court, including one based on the argument that privacy is a fundamental right. Last year, a nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court held that privacy was a fundamental right. Justice DY Chandrachud then said the state "may have justifiable reasons for the collection and storage of data" -- reasons apart from national security -- and that there was "a vital state interest in ensuring that scarce public resources are not dissipated by the diversion of resources to persons who do not qualify as recipients." At the same time, he said, the data collected "has to be utilised for legitimate purposes of the state and ought not to be utilised unauthorisedly for extraneous purposes." Inputs from agencies WATCH | Aadhaar is constitutionally valid, Supreme Court rules in landmark decision<doc-sep>Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor<doc-sep>
SC upholds validity of Aadhaar scheme: Aadhaar's outreach explained Watch: Aadhaar's outreach explained SC upholds validity of Aadhaar; Aadhaar empowers marginalised section of society NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme constitutionally valid in a 4-1 judgment. The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best.Three sets of judgments were pronounced in the matter. The first one was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri who wrote the judgement for himself, the CJI and Justice A M Khanwilkar. Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan, who were also part of the bench, wrote their individual opinions.Here are the key highlights of the verdict:* The Supreme Court upheld the validity of Aadhaar saying sufficient security measures are taken to protect data and it is difficult to launch surveillance on citizens on the basis of Aadhaar. A five-judge bench led by CJI Dipak Misra asked the government to provide more security measures as well as reduce the period of storage of data. * The SC asked the Centre to bring a robust law for data protection as soon as possible. * Aadhaar is mandatory for PAN card linking, said the apex court. * The SC said no person will be denied benefits under social welfare scheme because of failure of authentication through Aadhaar. * The top court said Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for openings of a bank account and for getting mobile connections. * The SC said that Aadhaar must not be made compulsory for school admission and the administration cannot make it mandatory. * The SC directed the government to ensure that illegal migrants are not issued Aadhaar to get benefits of social welfare schemes. * Private companies can't ask for Aadhaar, said the top court. * Justice Sikri while reading out the verdict on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar said that there is a fundamental difference between Aadhaar card and identity. Once the bio-metric information is stored, it remains in the system, he said. * The apex court struck down the provision in Aadhaar law allowing sharing of data on the ground of national security. * The SC said there is a fundamental difference between Aadhaar and other identity proof as Aadhaar cannot be duplicated and it is a unique identification. It added that Aadhaar is to empower the marginalised sections of the society, and it gives them an identity. * Aadhaar satisfies the doctrine of proportionality, said justice Sikri, adding, "It is better to be unique than to be best. "* The constitutional validity of Aadhaar was challenged by 31 petitions on grounds that it violated the right to privacy of citizens.