Bhubaneswar, September 26, 2018: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutional validity of Aadhaar.
“Welcome #AadharVerdict for it retains the intrinsic value of the scheme while addressing concerns about infringement on privacy. Verdict ensures inclusion of every beneficiary while making many services non-mandatory. Hoping for greater efficiency in public service delivery,” Patnaik tweeted.
Today, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar scheme but with conditions.
The five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the CJI said Aadhaar is meant to help benefits reach marginalised sections of society and takes into account the dignity of people not only from the personal but also from the community point of view.
In a 1400-page judgment, the apex court also listed out services for which Aadhaar verification or linkage will not be mandatory anymore.
While Telecom service providers cannot ask to link mobile numbers with Aadhaar, educational platforms like CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar card mandatory for students. Also Aadhaar is not compulsory for school admissions.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the statutory authority that maintains Aadhaar database, has the biometric data of 122 crore Indians. People, including many high profile persons have raised several questions over its safety and security, fearing the data theft could lead to leakage of personal information.
