The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear a petition seeking Aadhaar-based elections after four weeks, Live Law reported. The petition, filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, proposed such a system to prevent bogus and duplicate voting during elections.
Upadhyay’s lawyer also requested Chief Justice Dipak Misra to issue a notice to the government and seek its reply in the meantime, but Misra refused.
The petition said the Aadhaar database was the “most authentic database of citizens”, and the chances of duplication was “almost negligible” and “beyond the realms of possibility and probability”. It said using the biometric identification system in elections would “improve the overall health of electoral rolls”.
“The current system is better, but not the best,” the petition read, according to PTI. “Aadhaar-based election voting system has more authentication of voters and better security of the voting process, it can protect the voted data and most importantly, the voter can cast his vote from any corner of the country.”
The petition also sought appropriate steps by the Centre to link movable and immovable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar numbers to curb corruption, black money generation and “benami” transactions.
The Supreme Court is already in the process of hearing petitions that challenge the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the government’s move to make it mandatory to avail social benefits and to link it with bank accounts, mobile numbers and Permanent Account Numbers.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!