Aadhaar a 'Giant Electronic Mess', Will Turn India 'Into a Surveillance State': Petitioners to Supreme Court

New Delhi, Jan 17: The five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court initiated the final set of hearings on a batch of petitions which challenge the validity of Aadhaar. Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, who presided over the bench, was told by the petitioners that the Aadhaar is a "giant electronic mess" which would turn India "into a surveillance state".

The use of Aadhaar or the 12-digit biometric identity "tends to terrorise the citizen", the petition alleged, claiming that the citizens are being forced to furnish their biometric information for availing subsidies and other public facilities.

The petitioners also demanded the Supreme Court to reverse the 2016 legislation enacted by the Parliament, which makes the use of Aadhaar mandatory, rather than voluntary.

The compulsory usage of Aadhaar will turn the country into a totalitarian state, said senior SC lawyer Shyam Divan, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners.

A people's Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State's Constitution," he said, urging the top court to ensure the privacy of citizen is not breached.

In the past year, a nine-judge constitutional bench of the SC headed by the then CJI J S Khehar had declared privacy as a "fundamental right". The ruling is likely  to have an impact on the ongoing case, where the petitioners have alleged violation of privacy due to the mandatory usage of Aadhaar.

Ahead of the hearing, Nandan Nilekani, who was the top executive of the Aadhaar project launched by the UPA government, said the unique identification system "neither comprises privacy nor excludes (anyone)".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2018 05:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).