Why it is in news?
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The Supreme Court in a majority opinion upheld Aadhaar as a reasonable restriction on individual privacy
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Aadhar fulfils the government’s “legitimate aim” to provide dignity to a large, marginalised population living in abject poverty.
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“The Constitution does not exist for a few or minority of the people of India, but ‘We the People’,” the Supreme Court observed.
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An “unparalleled” identity proof.
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A document that cannot be duplicated unlike PAN, ration card, and passport.
Dissent judgement
- Justice D.Y. Chandrachud wrote a sharp dissent, declaring Aadhaar unconstitutional.
Where aadhar is constitutional?
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Justice Sikri said technology had become a vital tool for ensuring good governance in a social welfare state.
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Schemes like PDS, scholarships, mid-day meals, LPG subsidies, involve a huge amount of money and “fool-proof” Aadhaar helped welfare reach the poor.
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Upholding the passage of the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill, the Supreme Court said neither were individuals profiled nor their movements traced when Aadhaar was used to avail government benefits under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act of 2016.
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The statute only sought “minimal” biometric information, and this did not amount to invasion of privacy.
Bar on bank-mobile link
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The majority opinion upheld the PAN-Aadhaar linkage, but declared linking Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile SIM cards unconstitutional.
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The court insulated children from the Aadhaar regime.
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The card was not necessary for children aged between six and 14 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan as right to education was a fundamental right.
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Statutory bodies like CBSE and UGC cannot ask students to produce their Aadhaar cards for examinations like NEET and JEE.
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Permission of parents and guardians was a must before enrolling children into Aadhaar, the Supreme Court declared.
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Children once they attained the age of majority could opt out of Aadhaar, the Supreme Court said.
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It said it was not trivialising the problem of exclusion faced by the elderly, the very young, the disabled and several others during the authentication process.
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Authentication was found to be only having a .232% failure, Justice Sikri pointed out. It was accurate 99.76% times, Justice Sikri said.
Source
The Hindu