(PTI)
The Supreme Court today said it was not sure whether bringing people “face to face” with authorities through Aadhaar was the best model as the State should reach them to accord the benefits of the welfare schemes. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a clutch of petitions challenging Aadhaar and its enabling 2016 law, was told by the counsel for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that the 12 digit national identifier brought the citizens face to face with the service providers for getting the benefits. “We are not sure if that is the best model. The individual should not be a supplicant.
The State should go to him and give him benefits,” the bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said. The bench observed that the UIDAI says Aadhaar is a means for identification, but the “only caveat to that is that there should be no exclusion”. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for UIDAI and the Gujarat government, said the development was necessary to ensure that people are freed from poverty.
