Breaking : Sections 33(2),47 & 57 Of Aadhaar Act Struck Down; National Security Exception Gone; Private Entities Cannot Demand Aadhaar Data [Read Judgment]

The judgment of Justice Sikri in the Aadhaar case has struck down Sections 33 and 57 of the Aadhaar Act 2016. The judgment authored by Justice A K Sikri, has concurrence of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar.Section 33 permits disclosure of information under Aaadhar act, including identity. The judgment of Justice Sikri has read down Section 33 of the Act, which enables disclosure of aadhaar information on the orders of District Judge, to state that the owner of information should be given opportunity of hearing before issuing such orders. • It is better to unique than to be the best; the Unique Identification Number extends an identity to the marginalised sections of the society • Duplication of the Aadhaar card is not a possibility; adequate defence and protective mechanisms- the personal information is contained in silos and there are no chances of any assimilation of such data to create the complete profile of a resident • However, section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, permitting the mandate of Aadhaar based authentication by private entities, is unconstitutional • Section 33 allowing the disclosure of sensitive biometric and demographic data upon an order of the District Judge to be read down to allow an opportunity of being heard to the concerned individual • Disclosure of information in the interest of national security under section 33 unconstitutional • Section 47 must empower individual complainants to set the law into motion in case of a violation • The authentication records cannot be retained beyond a period of 6 months; the Act, in so far as it provides for retention of data for a period of 5 years, is illegal • The petitioners have laid heavy reliance on the 2017 privacy judgment in attacking the Aadhaar project; the court has to adopt reasonable standards in judicial scrutiny- dignity also encompasses empowerment of the public at large • While education replaced thumb impressions with signature, technology has brought back the thumb prints • School admission does not qualify as a subsidy, benefit or service for the purpose of section 7 and hence, Aadhaar may not be mandatory for the same; bodies like CBSE, NEET also may not require Aadhaar • Aadhaar cannot be compulsory for opening bank accounts or for procuring mobile phone connections; however, the mandate of Aadhaar-PAN linkage under section 139AA of the Income Tax Act is valid • The introduction of the Aadhaar Act as a money bill is not bad