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Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 18
If one can share one’s personal information with a private company, why not with the state? This was the question posed by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on the second day of hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Aadhaar Act and related 139 government notifications.
This comes a day after senior counsel Shyam Divan contended on behalf of the petitioners that Aadhaar was a switch that could be used by government to cause civil death of an individual.
The Bench — also comprising Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan— wanted an answer to the question. “If you need insurance, you go to a private party. If you need a phone, you go to a private party. If private players ask for your address proof, it is okay, but if the government asks for the same, then you say it's at the core of my identity,” Justice Chandrachud said.
“Per se, there is no problem with an individual parting with private information willingly. The point is that you are being asked to part with information to someone you do not know and have no contractual relation with,” submitted Divan.
Divan, representing petitioners such as former Justice KS Puttaswamy, activists Aruna Roy, Shantha Sinha and veteran CPM leader VS Achuthanandan, has maintained the State cannot compel citizens to part with personal information, that too to a private company, as it violated their fundamental rights, including the right to privacy.
He questioned the State’s right to compel citizens to share information with private parties which used the information shared for commercial purposes. The Bench sought to know the safeguards put in place by the UIDAI to protect personal data collected from citizens.
The Bench may further take up the matter on Tuesday next.
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