SC: Never directed linking of Aadhaar with mobile nos
‘Observation Misinterpreted’
Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com 26.04.2018
New Delhi:
The mad rush to link mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar supposedly to comply with a directive of the Supreme Court was uncalled for. The SC on Wednesday clarified that it had not ordered mandatory linkage, and said the government misinterpreted its February 6, 2017, observation and insisted on doing it.
“In Lokniti Foundation case, the SC has not directed linking of SIM with Aadhaar. But the Union government’s circular says so. There was no direction by the court whereas the government’s circular clearly said so,” Justice D Y Chandrachud said during the hearing of Aadhaar case before a bench that also included CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar and Ashok Bhushan. The CJI-led bench pointed out that the February 6, 2017 order merely recorded then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi’s submission that Aadhaar was one of the documents used for verification of subscriber identity as was sought by a public interest petition filed by NGO ‘Lokniti Foundation’.
Call records not accessed through Aadhaar: Advocate
Significantly, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for UIDAI, agreed with the bench and said the government appeared to have taken the SC’s observations for verification of mobile phone subscribers seriously.
Drawing Dwivedi’s attention to the February 6 order, the bench said the court merely recorded the AG’s submission that “an effective programme for the same (verification of subscriber identity) would be devised at the earliest and the process of identity verification will be completed within one year”.
The bench set the record straight when Dwivedi argued that one-time seeding of mobile number with Aadhaar was not a big ask and would not lead to intrusion into citizens’ privacy as no call records were maintained through Aadhaar.
UIDAI’s insistence that the SC had mandated that all mobile connections be linked with Aadhaar had led to a scramble of sorts, with mobile service providers, nudged by the government, inundating subscribers with dire messages on the need to abide by the alleged order of the “hon’ble” apex court. While initially many rushed to service centres to meet the “obligation”, the government soon prevailed on telecom companies to roll out a scheme where the chore could be completed in a smooth manner without having to step out of home.
The SC on March13 had indefinitely extended the deadline for linkage of Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts of individuals and asked the government to wait till the constitution bench decided the validity of Aadhaar to take further steps in this regard. The Centre had in the interim agreed to extend the deadline for bank account linkage with Aadhaar till March 31.
Dwivedi said under the Telegraph Act, the Centre could insist that telecom service providers set a condition for linkage of Aadhaar with SIM as part of their licence agreement for use of air waves, or spectrum. “It is just a one-time verification of SIM card with Aadhaar to stop many kinds of mischief. Is it excessive? It is not that call records of individuals are being accessed through Aadhaar, which is incapable of being used for surveillance purposes,” he said.
‘Observation Misinterpreted’
Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com 26.04.2018
New Delhi:
The mad rush to link mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar supposedly to comply with a directive of the Supreme Court was uncalled for. The SC on Wednesday clarified that it had not ordered mandatory linkage, and said the government misinterpreted its February 6, 2017, observation and insisted on doing it.
“In Lokniti Foundation case, the SC has not directed linking of SIM with Aadhaar. But the Union government’s circular says so. There was no direction by the court whereas the government’s circular clearly said so,” Justice D Y Chandrachud said during the hearing of Aadhaar case before a bench that also included CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar and Ashok Bhushan. The CJI-led bench pointed out that the February 6, 2017 order merely recorded then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi’s submission that Aadhaar was one of the documents used for verification of subscriber identity as was sought by a public interest petition filed by NGO ‘Lokniti Foundation’.
Call records not accessed through Aadhaar: Advocate
Significantly, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for UIDAI, agreed with the bench and said the government appeared to have taken the SC’s observations for verification of mobile phone subscribers seriously.
Drawing Dwivedi’s attention to the February 6 order, the bench said the court merely recorded the AG’s submission that “an effective programme for the same (verification of subscriber identity) would be devised at the earliest and the process of identity verification will be completed within one year”.
The bench set the record straight when Dwivedi argued that one-time seeding of mobile number with Aadhaar was not a big ask and would not lead to intrusion into citizens’ privacy as no call records were maintained through Aadhaar.
UIDAI’s insistence that the SC had mandated that all mobile connections be linked with Aadhaar had led to a scramble of sorts, with mobile service providers, nudged by the government, inundating subscribers with dire messages on the need to abide by the alleged order of the “hon’ble” apex court. While initially many rushed to service centres to meet the “obligation”, the government soon prevailed on telecom companies to roll out a scheme where the chore could be completed in a smooth manner without having to step out of home.
The SC on March13 had indefinitely extended the deadline for linkage of Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts of individuals and asked the government to wait till the constitution bench decided the validity of Aadhaar to take further steps in this regard. The Centre had in the interim agreed to extend the deadline for bank account linkage with Aadhaar till March 31.
Dwivedi said under the Telegraph Act, the Centre could insist that telecom service providers set a condition for linkage of Aadhaar with SIM as part of their licence agreement for use of air waves, or spectrum. “It is just a one-time verification of SIM card with Aadhaar to stop many kinds of mischief. Is it excessive? It is not that call records of individuals are being accessed through Aadhaar, which is incapable of being used for surveillance purposes,” he said.
