NEW DELHI:The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that a “fool proof” system would be in place for the implementation of the Aadhaar scheme and Right to Privacy can’t be invoked to scrap it as it is not a fundamental right under the Constitution.
Urging the bench to refer the matter to the five-judge Constitution bench in light of divergent views emerging from different judgments, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi requested it to see the interplay of the right of those seeking scrapping of the Aadhaar with 700 million people whose subsidies and welfare benefits were dependent on the Aadhaar scheme.
Rohatgi said, “If the scheme was scrapped, it would impact the issuance of driving licences, passports, the National Population Register and other things that matter to citizens even otherwise.” He said the scheme was necessary as the country was battling the problem of illegal migrants.
“We are inclined to refer it to the larger Constitutional bench,” the bench of justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde and C Nagappan observed after the AG’s submission.
Appearing for Justice Puttaswamy (retd), senior counsel Shyam Divan said, “If the Union is not contesting the position that Indians have a right to privacy under the ... Constitution, where is the occasion to refer the challenge to the Aadhaar scheme to a five-judge bench.”