SC had to clarify on privacy as UPA brought Aadhaar without a law: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today blamed the previous UPA government for bringing the biometric ID card programme Aadhaar without a law or safeguards, because of which individual privacy being a fundamental right had to be settled by the Supreme Court.

The BJP-led NDA government, he said, while framing the law for use of the biometric identifier, ensured all safeguards and that "privacy as a fundamental right is respected".

Welcoming the Supreme Court's ruling that individual privacy is a fundamental right as a "positive development", he said the apex court has accepted the government's "argument that privacy is a fundamental right, but it's not an absolute right".
 

The ruling "is positive because as the evolution of constitutional law goes on, there is always an effort to strengthen fundamental rights," he said.

Jaitley said the privacy matter went to the Supreme Court "because the (previous) UPA government brought about Aadhaar without a law".

"No safeguards were put by the UPA as to how data would be protected or the data could be used. So people challenged it saying, you are collecting the data and what will you do with it, which are the privacy clauses in it and therefore the challenge was there," he said.

When the BJP-led government last year brought the Aadhaar law, the finance minister said he was clear that "it is too late for anybody to contend that privacy will not be a fundamental right".

And so special provisions with regard to privacy and punishment in case of violations were put in.

Jaitley said he had while replying to the debate on the Aadhaar bill in Parliament on March 16, 2016 stated that the law with all safeguards is being framed "to make sure and ensure that privacy as a fundamental right will be respected".

Elaborating on the restrictions to privacy, Jaitley, an eminent lawyer, said in a room an individual would have absolute right of privacy.

"But if somebody says I will spend large amounts only of cash money and nobody has a right to find this out because I have a right to privacy, that will be subjected to restrictions which will be fair, just and reasonable," he noted.

Stating that restrictions will have to be just, fair and reasonable, he said the Supreme Court has also stated that restrictions can be for national security, crime detection or dissipation of social welfare benefits.

Jaitley said the restrictions would depend on "case to case" but those will have to meet the test of being fair, just and reasonable.

"And, I am sure Aadhaar legislation restrictions are fair, just and reasonable and government is only interested in those fair, just and reasonable restrictions which further the object of dissipation of social welfare benefits so that they are not cornered by undeserving people and only go to deserving. To that extent I think it is a positive development," he added.