Banks, telcos could be allowed to use Aadhaar, says Jaitley
New Delhi, Oct 6 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said a Parliament approved legislation can restore mandatory linking of biometric ID Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts, but did not say if the government will bring a new law for the same.
The Supreme Court had last month upheld the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric based unique identity number, but restricted its use by private entities like telecom operators for verifying identity of mobile phone user.
Jaitley said the verdict was a "very sound judgment" as the court accepted that there is legitimate state aim in Aadhaar.
"Aadhaar is not a citizenship card," he said at the HT Leadership Summit here. "Because after all you have a system where you give a lot of government money in form of various support and subsidies to all kinds of people. That was the principle objective of Aadhaar."
The Supreme Court, he said, upheld most of what Aadhaar does.
"What had not been upheld falls in two categories. One is the principle of proportionality that Aadhaar will help in these cases and then do it by an appropriate law.
"So the whole argument which was given that private companies can't use it, there is Section 57 which says you can authorise others either by law or contract. So what has been struck down is by contract," he said.
Finance Minister said a legal provision through a legislation can restore linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts.
"By law it can still be done, provided you do it under the adequate provision of law and do it on the basis of that in this field it is necessary," he said.
He, however, did not say if the government plans to bring a law in Parliament for the purpose.
Jaitley said the Supreme Court has permitted Aadhaar linkage in several areas like income tax, based on "the principle of proportionality".
"If you are able to show the kind of data that in mobile telephony it (Aadhaar linkage) will help, it can happen. So mobile and bank accounts are two critical areas," he said.
The Supreme Court declared constitutional the government's extraordinary attempt to give every resident a biometric ID. It, however, drew a clear line between two kinds of use for biometric authentication -- its use for state-provided services like payment of subsidies and taxation records was declared acceptable but restricted its use as authentication tool by the private sector like telecom companies and banks.
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Ali Larijani, believed to be running Iran since the beginning of the war, is killed in a strike
Dubai, Mar 18 (AP): Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official and a conservative force within Iran's theocracy, was killed in an Israeli strike, Iranian authorities confirmed Tuesday. He was 67.
Larijani was widely believed to be running the country following the killing of its supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes late last month that sparked a widening war. Israel said earlier Tuesday that it had killed Larijani, but it was several hours before Iran confirmed his death.
He had been appointed to advise Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration and traveled to Oman to meet with mediators just two weeks before the war began. Like other top Iranian leaders, Larijani was under heavy U.S. sanctions and implicated in the violent repression of mass protests in January.
He was ineligible to become supreme leader after Khamenei's death because he is not a Shiite cleric. But he was widely expected to serve as a top adviser, and many believed he was running the country as U.S. and Israeli strikes have driven Iran's leadership underground. The Supreme National Security Council said his son Morteza Larijani was also killed.
ALSO READ: Iran says no response to US outreach for talks amid escalating conflict
A week ago, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER” if Tehran stopped oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, Larijani responded on X.
“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn't fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn't eliminate Iran,” he wrote. “Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”
Larijani was born into one of Iran's most famous political families, which many media outlets have compared to the Kennedys in the United States. One brother, Sadeq, served as the head of Iran's judiciary, while another, Mohammad Javad, was a senior diplomat who closely advised the late Khamenei on foreign affairs.
Over the years, Larijani issued increasingly hard-line threats. In the 1990s, he served as Iran's culture minister, tightening censorship. He served as parliament speaker from 2008 to 2020, and most recently as head of the Supreme National Security Council.
He wrote at least six philosophy books, including three exploring the works of German philosopher Immanuel Kant.
