A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a batch of petitions against various concerns pertaining to Aadhaar, focussing on whether the “right to privacy” was a fundamental right, reported ANI. The court is expected to come to a decision on the matter on Wednesday.
The Narendra Modi-led government had earlier argued before the top court that individuals do not enjoy a fundamental right to privacy. However, a Supreme Court bench had disagreed with the Centre’s view and referred the matter to a nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.
A number of petitioners have argued in the Supreme Court that Aadhaar breaches an individual’s right to privacy, saying it fell under the Constitution’s Article 21 on the right to life and Article 19 on the protection of certain basic rights.
On July 7, the Supreme Court had recommended setting up a Constitutional bench to decide on all Aadhaar-related matters. After Attorney General KK Venugopal had pointed out that an earlier eight-judge bench had already ruled that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right, the apex court had said that the Constitution bench would decide whether the Aadhaar matter should be referred to a nine-judge bench.
On Monday, Unique Identification Authority of India chief Ajay Bhushan Pandey told Scroll.in that the authority is vigilant about data breaches and citizens should not be too concerned even if their Aadhaar numbers are leaked. He said “Aadhaar is not a secret number like your password or PIN.”
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