FIR not against reporter, Govt committed to freedom of press: Law minister
The Supreme Court made it clear that politicians should 'allow freedom of expression' during the hearing of another case.
New Delhi: As outrage continues over the FIR filed by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on the journalist who exposed the Aadhaar data breach, the Union government on Monday said it was "committed" to the freedom of the press.
Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted that the FIR was against unknown persons responsible for the leak of demographic details.
Prasad also said that a suggestion has been made to UIDAI to request The Tribune and its journalists to assist the police in further investigation.
Govt. is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security & sanctity of #Aadhaar for India's development. FIR is against unknown. I've suggested @UIDAI to request Tribune & it's journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders.
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 8, 2018
Also read: Just revealed tip of iceberg, more to come: Journalist on Aadhaar breach
The Supreme Court, on the other hand, which is in the process of hearing a petition challenging the validity of Aadhaar, made it clear on Monday that politicians should "allow freedom of expression" during the hearing of another case.
The controversy started after The Tribune published an investigative report claiming that it received an offer to buy access into the Aadhaar database in exchange of only Rs 500 and was given login details to access the data.
The UIDAI denied the breach of Aadhaar data, but also said that it has given the "search facility" for grievance redressal to designated personnel and state government officials to help residents, that too only upon entering their Aadhaar number.
"The reported case appears to be an instance of misuse of the grievance redressal search facility," UIDAI had claimed, also maintaining that this allowed an access only to demographic details and the biometric details database continue to remain safe.