Aadhaar link: SC wants telcos and banks to mention deadline, but doesn't stay sending of texts
In a fresh hearing on the contentious Aadhaar-mobile link, the Supreme Court has directed telecom operators as well as banks to mention the last date for linkage with Aadhaar, expressing concern about the threatening messages sent by both groups to customers on a daily basis.
However, the SC didn't put an interim stay on sending out such texts, or companies following a questionable DoT circular to intimidate customers about mandatorily updating the Aadhaar number for continued mobile or banking services.
In addition, the Centre has now extended the deadline to link Aadhaar with bank accounts from December 31, 2017 to March 31, 2018.
The SC bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued the direction while hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act.
The bench, particularly Justice Sikri, agreed with the petitioners that these messages were being sent out, and expressed unhappiness over getting them, when attorney general KK Venugopal tried dismissing concerns on the matter.
The SC bench was responding to the petitioners' counselors, including advocates Anand Grover, Shyam Divan and Aravind Datar, as well as AG Venugopal on behalf of the Centre.
While the AG submitted that in light of the Data Protection Bill, the Aadhaar Act might undergo some change, and therefore might automatically address the current concerns over UID's privacy and others problems, the petitioners pointed out that the Aadhaar-mobile link is itself illegal and must be quashed.
While the SC bench chastised banks and mobile phone companies for sending panic-inducing messages to customers -which assert that their phone and bank accounts would be rendered dysfunctional in case Aadhaar is not updated - it asked them to clearly mention the last date for linking UID to such services.
However, the SC has left it to the Constitution bench that would be deciding the efficacy of the Aadhaar Act itself, as well as the bunch of petitions questioning the Aadhaar link to various government and commercial services as mandated by the Centre, to take a call on whether or not Aadhaar link is legal and constitutionally viable. Whether or not the Aadhaar violates citizens' fundamental right to privacy will therefore be decided by the bigger bench that's expected to convene within November.
However, the SC said that if the constitution bench is postponed, then it would indeed consider putting an interim stay on the Aadhaar link to services.
It seems the citizens have limited respite as of now, and needn't worry if they haven't updated their Aadhaar (if they have it) with their mobile or bank account numbers.
However, the myriad Aadhaar-related exclusions, of which the Jharkhand starvation death was one of the most glaring, prove that the government is in no mood to take a step back, and reconsider the enormous privacy challenge and complication of the Aadhaar project.
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