Balanced verdict, says IT industry on SC directive on Aadhaar

The Supreme Court verdict in the Aadhaar case is balanced as it has upheld the constitutional validity of the scheme while also addressing data privacy issues, leading figures in the information technology (IT) industry said.

The judgement removes a big barrier to the Centre's flagship scheme's acceptability and "settles" the law, T V Mohandas Pai, a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Infosys Ltd said.

"Overall, a very good balanced judgement which recognises Aadhaar as a unique entity, empowers the government to make Aadhaar mandatory with conditions in certain cases and recognises the primacy of the individual's right to her data," he told PTI.

Another ex-CFO of Infosys, V Balakrishnan said the apex court has come out with a balanced view on the issue.

".. the Supreme Court has in effect addressed many of the concerns related to wide use of Aadhaar data and resulting data privacy issues," Balakrishnan said.

"The all pervasive use of Aadhaar number had been curtailed by the judgement to a larger extent."