Aadhaar Is Constitutionally Valid Says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid. The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best.

The first of the three judgements was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri. Justice Sikri pronounced the judgement for himself, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar. The Supreme Court It said Aadhaar will not be required for opening bank accounts, admissions in schools or for getting mobile connections.

The apex court upheld the tabling of Aadhaar as a money bill. Uniqueness was the fundamental difference between Aadhaar and other identity proof, the bench said. Aadhaar cannot be duplicated and it was a unique identification, the judges said. "We are of the view that there are sufficient safeguards to protect data collected under Aadhaar scheme." The apex court struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access services.

However, no person will be denied benefits under social welfare scheme because of the failure of authentication through Aadhaar, the judges said. "We direct the government to ensure that illegal migrants are not issued Aadhaar," they said, adding that as of today they did not find anything in Aadhaar Act which violated the right to privacy of individual citizen. IANS/ PTI

Also Read: Aadhaar Hacking Rumours Incorrect, Irresponsible: UIDAI