Don't see an issue with voluntary usage: Nandan Nilekani

Former UIDAI chairman and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani welcomed the Supreme Court judgment that upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar on Wednesday, calling it a landmark judgment in favour of the world's largest biometric database.

In an exclusive interview to ET NOW business news channel, he also said that he is not disappointed with the Supreme Court limiting the scope of Aadhaar, stating that he doesn't see an issue if the usage is voluntary.

"I think this is a landmark judgment in favour of Aadhaar, they have unequivocally validated the

founding principles which is that its a unique id critical to development goals, it was about inclusion and that it was resident -centric project. The recommendations need to be looked into. We have developed a better and stronger Aadhaar through a decade-long process," Nilekani told ET NOW in an exclusive interview.

The 5-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Aadhaar Act as constitutional with a 4:1 majority. The lone dissenter, Justice DY Chandrachud said the passage of the Aadhaar Act as a money bill was a fraud on the Constitution and that constitutional guarantees cannot be left to risks posed by tech advancements. When asked about Justice Chandrachud's dissent, Nilekani said, "The judgment is a 4:1 majority and has upheld validity. Aadhaar has gone through 10 years of feedback and improvement and I am sure they will continue to do that."

While the SC upheld Aadhaar as mandatory for welfare schemes, PAN and I-T returns, it said the biometric id will not be made mandatory to open bank accounts, phone connections, school admissions or key entrance exams. When asked if was disappointed with a more limited scope for Aadhaar, Nilekani said, "My understanding is that if its voluntary usage, I don't see an issue."

The Supreme Court also read down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that gave private sector companies access to Aadhaar for authentication purposes. While the Court said this is unconstitutional, the fine print of the judgment suggests that private entities can use Aadhaar provided its backed by law. Nilekani said it was too premature to comment on the possible ramifications for private sector entities and a closer look at the fine print was needed.