Aadhaar not mandatory: SC

It shall remain optional for welfare schemes

New Delhi : Aadhaar card will be optional for availing various welfare schemes of the government, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday and ordered that no personal information of the holders of such cards shall be shared by any authority. A three-judge bench, which in the forenoon referred to a larger Constitution Bench a batch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme and the issue whether right to privacy is a fundamental right, recorded the statement of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that "no personal information of Aadhaar card shall be shared by any authority".

The bench, headed by Justice J Chelameswar, which issued a slew of directions, said the Centre shall give wide publicity through electronic and print media that the card is not mandatory to avail the government schemes. The bench, also comprising justices SA Bobde and C Nagappan, said, "UIDAI/Aadhaar will not be used for any other purposes except PDS, kerosene and LPG distribution system."

However, the court made it clear that even for the PDS, kerosene and LPG distribution system, the card will not be mandatory. It directed that the information received by UIDAI shall not be used for any other purposes, except in criminal investigation with the permission of the court.

The court did not allow the interim plea of petitioners, challenging Aadhaar scheme, that the ongoing enrolment process for the Aadhaar card be stayed. Earlier in the day, the apex court had referred to a Constitution Bench the batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Aadhaar card scheme and decide whether right to privacy is a fundamental right.

Allowing the Centre's plea, the court framed various questions, including as to whether right to privacy is a fundamental right, to be decided by a Constitution Bench. "If yes, then what would be contours of the right to privacy," the apex court said while referring the matter to Chief Justice HL Dattu for setting up the larger bench.