UIDAI indirectly seeding bank accounts with Aadhaar: Opponents

NEW DELHI: Bank accounts were being seeded with Aadhaar indirectly, those opposed to the scheme contended in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, lead counsel for a host of activists opposing the mandatory nature of the scheme, accused the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) of ‘resorting to inorganic seeding’.

“Suppose you link your Aadhaar with your pension, it gets automatically linked to your bank account,” Divan told a five-judge bench led by CJI Dipak Misra. He cited instances where people who had never consented to seeding of bank accounts with Aadhaar receiving messages from their banks that their accounts have been linked.


Divan said the court had the option of ruling in favour of the people by making Aadhaar optional and not compulsory. He said the court cannot allow a compulsory scheme masquerading as a voluntary scheme.

“That would be against the national motto, Satyameva Jayate,” he said. He urged the court to make sure children, HIV affected, bonded labourers, trafficked women and vulnerable sections are not denied their basic right to food and health care. The court cannot allow the government to treat those seeking social service benefits as secondclass citizens, he argued.

“Some of these are not even benefits, but entitlements. Can they be taken away,” he asked. He urged the court not to roll back certain rights it had listed as part of the Fundamental Right to Life of a citizen such as education, mid-day meals given under right to food etc. You cannot take away existing rights, he said.