(ET)
The Supreme Court verdict declaring privacy as a fundamental right will not put an end to Aadhaar since all the current usage of the unique identity number falls under the reasonable restrictions which have been outlined in the judgement. Aadhaar can continue to be linked with subsidy schemes since reasonable restrictions laid down by the Court include prevention of “dissipation of welfare benefits,” Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told ET.
Adding that while another Supreme Court Bench which will hear the specific Aadhaar matter will take a final call on the issue, he said that all the current use cases of Aadhaar fall under the reasonable restrictions category. While the linkage with bank account and PAN card can prevent crimes such as money laundering and impersonation etc and will be covered under restrictions ‘prevention of crime’, projects such as Aadhaar Pay could fall under ‘innovation’ as outlined by the judgement.
