The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgement on Aadhaar tomorrow
The Supreme Court is all set to pronounce its verdict on the clutch of 27 petitions challenging Aadhaar's constitutional validity. After a marathon hearing that began in January and stretched on for 38 days, the country's apex court had reserved its judgement on May 10. A five-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra will pronounce the verdict on Wednesday morning. Here are the details.
Aadhaar: The over-arching identity proof in India right now
Aadhaar, under the Modi government, has become increasingly important and has trumped all other identity proofs to become the over-arching one in India. The biometric identification system has also been made compulsory for a host of services and welfare schemes, and is required almost everywhere from bank accounts, to PAN cards, to cellphone services and the like.
Petitioners had challenged Aadhaar's validity, Centre has defended Aadhaar
With Aadhaar coming into almost every aspect of life, petitioners had challenged the biometric system's constitutional validity, saying that the system could not be made mandatory. They also cited several instances of data breaches as an argument against Aadhaar. However, the Centre has defended Aadhaar, saying that it streamlines the distribution of various services and benefits. It also maintains that Aadhaar data is safe.
The SC's judgement will impact one billion people
Tomorrow's Aadhaar judgement is possibly the most awaited among all the cases CJI Dipak Misra has been charged with hearing at the end of his tenure. Additionally, with over 1.18 billion Indians having already enrolled in Aadhaar, the apex court's verdict on whether the biometric identification system is constitutionally valid is set to literally affect one billion people.
