We welcome the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right. This is a historic day.
This judgment comes to us after a reference in the Aadhaar cases starting in in 2012 where the Union Government in August 2015 argued that the fundamental right to privacy does not exist under the Constitution. Since then the government and UIDAI, the agency managing the Aadhaar database, have consistently argued in Court that Indians have no fundamental privacy and that privacy is a concern only of the elite. These pernicious arguments have finally been laid to rest.
On 8th Aug, 2017, a press conference was organized in Delhi by Satark Nagrik Sangathan, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Right to Food Campaign and Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan to expose the claims of the Government about the benefits of Aadhaar.
In response to the press conference, the media reported Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO UIDAI, as saying that the findings “arise from a skewed approach” and “misinterpretations”. Further, it was reported that according to him, “to claim that Aadhaar is responsible for denial is a misconstrued fact presented with malafide intent”.
Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Dipa Sinha & Amrita Johri have written to Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, replying to the various issues raised by him.
Here is the Aug edition of the Tyranny of Aadhaar newsletter, bringing you the real state of Aadhaar roll-out and how it affects crores of Indians across states. So far, the only real beneficiary of Aadhaar is: the State & Corporates, not the citizens. We share relevant data, and findings from the ground on experience of citizens in the Aadhaar project to sift through the false claims made about the biometrics project. Join us in demanding freedom from this new form of digital slavery 70 years after we won Independence
A press conference was held on 8th August 2017 to question the claims of the government about savings due to Aadhaar and about the benefits of Aadhaar in welfare programs and schemes.
On February 7, 2017, the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha stated that use of Aadhaar and technology led to the discovery of nearly 4 crore (3 crore 95 lakhs) bogus ration cards. Since no details of these 3.95 crore ration cards was available online, an RTI application was filed by Anjali Bhardwaj to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking state-wise break-up of the 3.95 crore bogus rations cards and the names and addresses of all those whose cards were cancelled.
The 9-Judge Constitution Bench concluded hearings to settle the question of whether there exists a fundamental right to privacy in India. The bench has reserved its judgment over whether privacy is a fundamental right in India.
The government’s counsels insisted that the Supreme Court should not recognise privacy as a fundamental right. They once again repeated arguments that privacy is an elite concept, that privacy interests are being only canvassed by a minority of wealthy citizens, and further, that only wrong-doers were asking for privacy.
The 9-Judge Constitution Bench continued hearing the arguments of the Government of India to settle the question of whether there exists a fundamental right to privacy in India. In August 2015, the Government of India denied that a fundamental right to privacy exists in India in the ongoing Aadhaar case. After the 9-judge bench finishes hearings on the limited question of whether Indians have a fundamental right to privacy, a 5-judge bench is then expected to rule on whether the Aadhaar scheme violates such a fundamental right and will thereby decide the fate of the Aadhaar project.
The 9-Judge Constitution Bench continued hearing the arguments of the Government of India to settle the question of whether there exists a fundamental right to privacy in India. In August 2015, the Government of India denied that a fundamental right to privacy exists in India in the ongoing Aadhaar case. After the 9-judge bench finishes hearings on the limited question of whether Indians have a fundamental right to privacy, a 5-judge bench is then expected to rule on whether the Aadhaar scheme violates such a fundamental right and will thereby decide the fate of the Aadhaar project.
The 9-Judge constitutional bench resumed hearings to settle the question on whether there exists a fundamental right to privacy in India. This bench in the words of Justice Nariman “..will decide the issue once and for all for conceptual clarity for the nation.” In an important development, several states decided to join the issue on the side of the petitioners and argued that there does exist a fundamental right to privacy in India.
The bench of nine SC judges continued hearing arguments for a second day, to settle the question of whether Indian citizens have a fundamental right to privacy, in the ongoing Aadhaar case. Several petitioners had questioned whether the government can mandatorily link the 12-digit, biometrics linked UID number to government services, and make it compulsory to enroll in the biometrics database.
