The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar by a 4:1 majority. The top court said the programme does not violate a person’s right to privacy, but struck down certain provisions of the Aadhaar Act.
The court upheld linking Permanent Account Numbers with Aadhaar to file income tax returns, but said Aadhaar need not be linked to mobile phones and bank accounts. People will also not need to provide Aadhaar to get a new number or open a bank account.
The court, however, struck down some sections of the Aadhaar Act, including Section 57 which enables private bodies to seek Aadhaar for authentication.
Justice DY Chandrachud, the sole dissenter, said the entire Aadhaar programme is “completely violative of privacy and unconstitutional”. He said the Unique Identification Authority of India has admitted that it stores important data that is violative of the right to privacy and Article 14, the right to equality.
Hindustan Times’ headline read “Aadhaar Public, Limited” with a composite portraits of citizens who had their iris and fingerprints scanned for the Aadhaar registration process in Delhi in 2011.
“The face of dignity cannot be lost sight of and needs to be acknowledged,” Hindustan Times quoted Justice AK Sikri as saying.
The paper reported reactions from the two major political parties – Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. It said the BJP-led government and the Congress claimed victory over the verdict.
“Aadhaar for Sarkar, Biz Not as Usual” read the headline on the front page of The Economic Times. A report on the front page, “Govt may bring legal backing for private cos to use Aadhaar”, said inter-ministerial consultations will be held to evaluate the government’s options. The report also quoted Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad telling fintech companies not to panic over the ruling.
Another report “Telcos, banks & fin cos may feel the pinch” said these institutions have used Aadhaar-based electronic know your customer to acquire new users. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, private companies cannot mandate Aadhaar-based authentication, hurting businesses.
The Times of India headline read “Aadhaar Stays, Minus Fangs and Pangs”. The paper claimed that the verdict “could spell trouble for business models of finance firms”.
The newspaper also highlighted that the Supreme Court may have cleared the way for a national citizenship card. “We direct the Union government not to issue Aadhaar to illegal immigrants,” The Times of India quoted the court as saying.
The paper said the verdict empowers people to seek removal of their personal information from the records of telecom, banking, mutual funds and insurance firms that had earlier demanded biometric authentication.
The paper also carried reports on Justice DY Chandrachud’s dissenting opinion and the government looking at options to amend the law.
The front page of The Telegraph carried a brief on the Supreme Court verdict followed by answers to questions on the judgement and on Aadhaar.
“Aadhaar for subsidy valid but blow to Bank-and-Phone Big Brother” read the headline on the front page. The paper claimed that the Narendra Modi-government had lost more since most of the provisions struck down by the court were imposed by his government through executive orders.
The Hindu ran the headline “Aadhaar gets thumbs up from Supreme Court”. “The Constitution does not exist for a few or minority of the people of India, but ‘We the People’,” the court observed. The paper carried an infographic on what the judgement means for citizens.
The newspaper carried Justice DY Chandrachud’s dissenting opinion under the headline “Reduced to digits, says Chandrachud”. “If the requirement of Aadhaar is made mandatory for every benefit or service which the government provides, it is impossible to live in contemporary India without Aadhaar,” the paper quoted him as saying.
“Supreme Court gives Aadhaar some privacy” read the headline on The Indian Express. The newspaper reported Justice DY Chandrachud’s criticism on the Aadhaar Act being passed as a Money Bill.
The paper said the verdict brought “uncertainty and anxiety” in the digital eco-system building around Aadhaar digital infrastructure.
The judgement was also the lead story on the front pages of Hindi papers, which carried infographics to explain the crucial aspects of the judgement.
“Niradhar nahi Aadhaar [Aadhaar is not groundless]” was the headline of Navbharat Times. The newspaper pointed out that the court has ruled that the biometric identification scheme is required to avail of government schemes and has struck down its use by private sector companies.
Dainik Bhaskar ran the headline “Aadhaar barkarar [Aadhaar continues]”. The headline was also designed to mean “Aadha barkarar”, which means parts of the act are valid.
Apart from explaining the details of the judgement, it also gave space to two other important judgements that the court passed – on quotas for people from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in government jobs, and livestreaming of proceedings in the court.
“Aadhaar vaidh par sabhi jagah zaroori nahi [Aadhaar is legitimate but not required everywhere]” was the headline of Hindustan. It also carried a big five-column infographic simplifying the judgement.
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