The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey to make a PowerPoint presentation on the Aadhaar scheme at 2.30 p.m.
The Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked the petitioners opposing the scheme to prepare a questionnaire after Mr. Pandey’s presentation.
The Constitution Bench is hearing a number of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and its enabling Act.
The Bench had on Wednesday said there are several technical aspects related to the Aadhaar scheme. These include surveillance, data security and exclusion of certain people from receiving benefits for want of either authentication or the lack of an Aadhaar number.
The apex court was earlier told that the collection of biometric details of citizens by the UIDAI from 2010 onwards till 2016, when the enabling Aadhaar law came into force, was “illegal” and “invalid” and the collected data deserved to be destroyed.
The court has extended the March 31 deadline for linking of Aadhaar to avail various services and welfare schemes run by the government until it delivers its verdict on the validity of the 12-digit biometric number and its enabling law.
