‘No, Aadhaar Not Unconstitutional’: Here Are The Key Takeaways From Today’s SC Judgement

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday (26 September) pronounced its verdict on the validity of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. Some of the key takeaways from the majority ruling of the Apex Court are:

1. In a landmark judgement the Supreme Court bench upheld the validity of the Aadhaar act and scheme by a 4:1 majority verdict.
2. The constitutional validity of Aadhaar has been upheld but certain sections of the Act have been struck down.
3. Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 has been struck down. Resultantly, private companies cannot demand Aadhaar data from citizens.
4. The national security exception has been struck down meaning that an investigation agency would require a judicial warrant to access the details of any individual under investigation.
5. Aadhaar is mandatory for filing income tax returns and therefore should be seeded with PAN. However, Aadhaar is not mandatory for mobile connections and the requirement to link the same with bank accounts has also been deemed to be unconstitutional.
6. Authentication records of Aadhaar cannot be stored for a period over six months.
7. Schools cannot make Aadhaar compulsory for admissions. CBSE, UGC and NEET have also been directed not to stipulate Aadhaar as a mandatory requirement.
8. The Apex Court has directed the government to bring into force a robust data protection law.
9. No Indian citizen can be denied his/her rights for reasons of not having an Aadhaar number. However, the Apex Court has directed the government to “ensure that illegal immigrants do not get Aadhaar cards”.