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The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the government’s plea for an interim stay on its earlier order declaring no one in the country should suffer while availing government services because of lack of an Aadhaar or unique identity (UID) number. This means continuation of the uncertainty over the Direct Benefits Transfer project, under which welfare payments are sent directly to the beneficiaries’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
However, the court agreed to hear all parties supporting and opposing the order finally on October 22.
Apart from a few central ministries and three public sector undertakings that requested a modification of the order, there are several other parties, such as activist Aruna Roy, who have moved a petition against the Aadhaar linkage in the court.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati, representing the petroleum ministry, argued that the earlier order of September 23 would have “serious consequences” if it remained in operation. The counsel said the government is subsidising Rs 40,000 crore only on gas cylinders and subsidised supply of gas without Aadhaar should not happen.
According to Vahanvati, while ration cards and election cards can be duplicated, Aadhaar can’t be forged. The counsel insisted no one is compelled to get the UID number and the scheme is voluntary. It is a condition only to get subsidised benefits. Anyone is free to buy gas cylinders from the open market beyond the nine-cylinder limit for Aadhaar holders.
The Attorney General insisted the government can invoke executive power to implement the scheme. According to him, this issue had been decided two years ago.
The judges remarked that all the issues before the court would be solved if an Act was passed. At present, the scheme was being implemented without a law, rule, regulation or circular. They said their basic concern was to provide essential items to the people. Aadhaar is required to even get a salary in the Bombay High Court, one judge remarked.
The issue blew up after a retired judge of the Karnataka high court, K S Puttaswamy, moved the Supreme Court, alleging the scheme was being enforced all over the country without any Parliamentary sanction. He also raised the issue of privacy, as the Aadhaar number provides personal details of all citizens to the government.
After the Supreme Court passed an interim order on September 23, the issue had created confusion in several states and petitions had been filed in different high courts, apart from half a dozen in the Supreme Court itself.
