Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Aadhar while striking down some of the contentious provisions
The recent verdict of the Supreme Court on the Aadhaar has upheld its constitutionality while striking down some of the provisions. The majority judgment upheld the validity citing that sufficient security measures have been taken to protect data and it is difficult to launch surveillance through Aadhar.
With this verdict, the Aadhar card will no longer be mandatory to avail of the services which such as opening a new bank account, admission in school and few others. The only dissenting Justice Chandrachud called the entire Aadhar act unconstitutional saying that the bill was not a money bill, despite that it was introduced in the parliament as a money bill which deprived the Rajya Sabha of its power to reject or amend it.
The ruling BJP has called Aadhar a slap on the face of Congress and a victory for the BJP, while the Congress Party has called it a defeat for the BJP saying that the contentious provisions in the Act, which the BJP government was trying to use a tool to surveillance causing unnecessary chaos and distress for common people, have been eliminated from the final act.
Congress party has said that the idea of Aadhar was conceived the UPA government, meaning that much of the credit goes to the Congress party; on the other hand, the BJP has accused the Congress of taking the undue credit saying that the actual credit goes to BJP as it gave the legal structure to the Aadhar, which had been lingering on for years.
This verdict is a welcome judgment as it strikes a fine balance between ensuring the empowerment of underprivileged and removing the possibilities of the Aadhar being misused to surveillance the lives of Indian citizens, thus preventing the violation of their right to privacy.
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