Supreme Court permits 'voluntary' use of Aadhaar card in welfare schemes

New Delhi: Lifting its earlier restriction, the Supreme on Thursday permitted voluntary use of Aadhaar cards in welfare schemes that also included MGNREGA, all pension schemes and the provident fund besides ambitious flagship programmes like 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna' of the NDA government.

The social welfare schemes, aimed at reaching to the door steps of the "poorest of the poor", were in addition to LPG and PDS schemes in which the apex court had allowed the voluntary use of Aadhaar cards.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu also put a caveat in its interim order for the Centre and said, "We also make it clear that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and not mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this court, this way or the other way."

The bench, while including the four other schemes along with LPG and PDS where Aadhaar may be used, said, "The Union of India to follow all other orders passed by this court since September 23, 2013."

It also said the Constitution bench, which also included Justices M Y Eqbal, C Nagappan, Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy, was set up only for the purpose of deciding applications filed by the Centre and bodies like RBI, SEBI, IRDA, TRAI, the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand seeking modification of the August 11 order.

The bench also said that a larger bench was required to be set up for final disposal of the petitions that also include the question as to whether the right to privacy is fundamental right.

The plea for inclusion of various programmes, 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna', MGNREGA, all pension schemes and the provident fund, today faced stiff opposition from a battery of senior lawyers like Soli Sorabjee, Gopal Subramanium and Shyam Divan.

'Jan Dhan Yojana' features in Guinness Book of World Records for opening 18,096,130 bank accounts in a week starting from August 23, 2014 as a part of the financial inclusion campaign.

Till October 7, 2015, 18.70 crore accounts have been opened under the scheme.

Divan, representing one of the petitioners who has challenged the Aadhaar card scheme, started arguments with the claim that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs the programme, is neither backed by any law nor by any notification and is getting biometric details through private agencies.

He further raised a legal objection and said that any modification of the August 11 order should be either done by the same three-judge bench or by the five-judge bench having those three judges which had passed the order in question as the instant proceedings amounted to review.

"If this bench is sitting only for hearing the modification then the court is re-visiting the order and its akin to review or curative," he said.

The court then referred to the order by which the three-judge bench had refused to consider the pleas seeking modification and had said that they will be dealt by the larger bench only.

The bench, during the two-hour-long hearing, repeatedly posed the query to the lawyers as to "why it is not good for other schemes and how can the court stop the voluntary use of Aadhaar in other welfare schemes if same is permitted for PDS and LPG schemes."

The lawyers for the petitioners contended that the scheme is "all pervasive" and is not full proof either and hence, cannot be used for other programmes.

The collection and use of the biometric and electronic details amount to invasion of privacy and the "the state cannot remain present every place with everybody," Divan said.

He further said that the citizens are not restrained from using Aadhaar cards, the injunction is against the state and its authorities. "Can this court restrain 50 crore people, who want to use it, that you cannot use," the bench said, "if it is allowed for LPG and PDS, then why not MNREGA? Why not Jan Dhan Yojna?" Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, initially said that the voluntary use of Aadhaar be extended to all schemes.

The bench then said that it cannot be done at present. It forced the AG to settle for four schemes other than LPG and PDS.

Yesterday, the court had taken note of Centre's plea that Aadhaar cards be allowed to be used "voluntarily" for welfare programmes other than PDS and LPG schemes and asked whether it can assure that nobody would be at a "disadvantageous" position for want of Aadhaar.

A three-judge bench had on August 11 referred a batch of petitions, challenging Aadhaar cards scheme, to a larger bench for an authoritative view on the question as to whether the right to privacy is fundamental right or not and had also restricted the use of Aadhaar to PDS and LPG scheme only.

Rohatgi had yesterday referred to the facts about the Aadhaar, the background of the cases, their reference to the CJI for setting up of larger bench and the reasons for interim pleas of the Centre and its bodies for modification of the order for voluntary use of the Aadhaar cards in other welfare schemes like MNREGA, pension and 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana'.

He had said over 92 crore citizens had been issued Aadhaar cards by the UIDAI and since the court has already stated that it will not be mandatory, there should not be any problem in allowing Aadhaar to be used on voluntarily basis to establish the identity of persons and make available the benefits of other welfare schemes as well.

He had submitted that crores of rupees had been spent on the UIDAI scheme to connect six lakh villages of the country with various welfare measures like MNREGA, pension schemes, Jan Dhan Yojana etc and 85,000 bank correspondents have been put on job to reach the beneficiaries at their doorsteps.

He had also explained the role of bank correspondents who will help the beneficiaries to realise welfare scheme benefits and also help them in opening bank accounts at the doorsteps.

Further, the Aadhaar cards would help in stopping fake withdrawal of money arising out of welfare scheme and pensioners would not have to visit the pension officer every year in November to establish they are alive, he said.

UIDAI, established by UPA-2 in 2009, issues Aadhaar cards to the citizens. Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit unique identification number for which biometric information is collected.