Getting Aadhar card not mandatory: Centre to SC

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Supreme Court tells Centre not to issue
Aadhar cards to illegal immigrants
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme
Court that securing Aadhar cards, being
issued by the Unique Identification Authority
of India (UIDAI), was optional and it has not
made it mandatory for the citizens.
The apex court, hearing a batch of pleas
against decisions of some States to make
Aadhar cards compulsory for a range of
activities including salary, PF disbursals and
marriage and property registrations, asked
the Centre not to issue it to illegal
immigrants as it would legitimise their stay.
The counsel for UIDAI and Centre responded
to the pleas of petitioners, saying, “So far as
the Union of India is concerned, we have
said the Aadhar card is voluntary.”
During the brief hearing, the bench of
justices B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde was
told that despite the fact that the Aadhar
card is “voluntary” in nature, an order has
been issued by the Registrar of the Bombay
High Court in pursuance of an order of the
State government that it would be necessary
for disbursal of salary of judges and staff
also.
“The scheme is complete infraction of
Fundamental Rights under Articles 14 (right
to equality) and 21 (right to life and liberty).
The government claims that the scheme is
voluntary but it is not so.
“Aadhar is being made mandatory for
purposes like registration of marriages and
others. Maharashtra government has
recently said no marriage will be registered
if parties don’t have Aadhar cards,” senior
advocate Anil Divan, arguing for Justice
(retd.) K.S. Puttaswamy, former judge of
Karnataka High Court, said.
Justice Puttaswamy, in his PIL, has also
sought a stay on the implementation of the
scheme.
Making Aadhar mandatory for various
purposes raises questions over the
government’s authority to implement such
types of the scheme, it said, adding it also
highlighted “the perils of the manner of its
implementation“.
The Centre has said the consent of an
individual was indispensable for Aadhar and
it has been launched to “promote inclusion
and benefits of the marginalised sections of
the society that has no formal identity
proof.”

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