Aadhaar compulsory: Judgement that left more questions
Supreme Court of India put a discussion to interim rest that was raging since the last nine years. This was regarding constitutional validity to the 12-digited biometric identity-based Aadhaar.
The judgment says Aadhaar is not mandatory for everything that the Aadhaar is being ‘insisted’ upon. Hence the supporters and detractors of Aadhaar, both have found a reason to rejoice. While some say this is an insult to the central government, the others say this is the victory of Modi Sarkar.
All the judges in the five-member committee have opined Aadhaar does not violate the fundamental right of privacy, but needs additional changes to make it constitutionally valid. But one of the judges, justice D.Y. Chandrachud has expressed a totally different view, terming Aadhaar totally unconstitutional.
Soon as this judgment was out, people have begun to wonder if one can live in India without getting an Aadhaar for themselves. The majority may never support their claim, but one cannot dismiss the concern of a judge of the Supreme Court. This also means Aadhaar is in such a quagmire that even a Supreme Court judge has expressed his concern about this.
The court says Aadhaar can be turned constitutionally valid with a few ‘mandatory’ conditions that have been laid down. The court has also dismissed a few ‘compulsory’ submissions in the context of Aadhaar, where it was demanded for things that were not necessary. On that basis, people are interpreting that people are free from the Aadhaar issues.
As per justice A.K Sikri, the services that have been omitted from submitting or linking Aadhaar to them, said privacy would be compromised if Aadhaar is linked to bank accounts since this violates the money laundering bill. Hence he says, this is not needed and the government should not insist on this, and nor is the linking necessary.
Linking Aadhaar to SIM card is another unnecessary aspect. If someone misused his/her sim card, it does not make every person a possible culprit. Hence, linking sim to Aadhaar is unconstitutional and unnecessary as per the bench.
Educational services or exams such as CBSE, NEET, UGC and other agencies are kept out of section 7, inter alia hence they cannot make Aadhaar mandatory for their exams and courses.
Section 7 allows the provision of obtaining Aadhaar to avail government subsidy in education. Also, according to SC, Aadhaar is not compulsory to claim the benefits of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. But when children become the beneficiaries of government provided welfare schemes, and apply for registration of such services and subsidies, Aadhaar number is compulsory, with the permission of parents and guardians.
Also, children have the choice of disallowing use of their Aadhaar number registration once they become adults and choose not to use the benefits, even if their parents had consented to it during their early days.
Along with this, the obtaining of Aadhaar number by corporate companies has been disallowed since the section 57 has turned unconstitutional. To make Aadhaar a legal aspect, proper law framework is needed which would pass through all filters of privacy protection.
Hence, as of now, Aadhaar need not be submitted to corporate companies. This is the most prominent aspect of the judgment. But the citizens of the country cannot assume Aadhaar is totally unnecessary now. The ones who did not get their Aadhaar, cannot hope to stay that way forever now.
Aadhaar has been made mandatory for some of the services now. The SC said mentioning Aadhaar number to avail welfare benefits and subsidies is mandatory and this does not violate the fundamental right of privacy of an individual. The five member bench has said Pan and Aadhaar have to be linked and this would be needed to file IT returns.
In a nutshell, the court makes it compulsory to get an Aadhaar number if one has to live in India, legally. Some of the incidents Aadhaar being misused in terms of denying of ration, food supplies and basic subsidies provided by the government were reported in the media.
Ration card and Aadhaar card were tied into compulsion and as a result some people had died without food in the past.
Aadhaar as it stands now, is still mandatory to avail subsidies and benefits. While it is not necessary to submit Aadhaar number to the bank, it is made mandatory to link Aadhaar with Pan card.
Since both are interconnected, does it not mean one needs to have Aadhaar number while opening a bank account or operating it since PAN card is much needed for all financial transactions? Hence, even an individual who does not come under taxable income bracket will have to have Aadhaar for sure. Hence, the gist of the judgment is Aadhaar, indeed is, compulsory to live in the country as a law-abiding citizen.
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Newborn found dead in plastic bag: Kerala Child Rights Commission registers case
Kochi (PTI): The Kerala State Child Rights Commission registered a case on Friday into the incident where a newborn was found dead, covered in a plastic bag on the street of a posh residential area here.
After visiting the Panampilly Nagar locality where the incident occurred, K V Manoj Kumar, the chairperson of the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, also directed the city police commissioner to file a detailed report on the incident.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Commission stated that if someone is unable to care for their children, abandoning or killing them should never be an option.
"There are various government systems in place to ensure their protection, such as Ammathottil or Children's Homes. These institutions provide a secure environment for children to grow up safely and thrive," Kumar said.
Ammathottil is an electronic cradle functioning under the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, aiming to provide better life conditions for destitute and abandoned children.
Earlier in the day, conservancy workers of Kochi Corporation found the body of the child along the street in Panampilly Nagar and alerted the police.
Launching an investigation, the police said that a 23-year-old woman was taken into custody after being traced using the address on the Amazon delivery packet in which the child was wrapped and thrown.
According to the police, the woman, suspected to be a victim of sexual assault, delivered a baby in the early hours of Friday in her apartment bathroom and allegedly threw the newborn on the street in front of her flat complex.
She had allegedly concealed her pregnancy from her parents.
