The writer (“Naming a right”, August 17) is absolutely right when she pleads with courts to take up the right to privacy. The shifting grounds of the Centre’s arguments in just two years are indicative of the unholy urgency to thrust Aadhaar down the throats of the common man; it does not show a progressive government in good light.
Should there not be a clear-cut law framed to protect privacy which lays down stringent and swift punishment for any violation of such privacy? What is the rush to enforce Aadhaar even before such a comprehensive and well-thought-out law is passed and efficient implementation mechanisms put in place?
Every single day, the government is expanding the scope of Aadhaar, the most recent being the directive to stock brokers to furnish the Aadhaar details of all clients. This is strange because there is already a directive to link PAN to Aadhaar and one needs a PAN to open a demat account. It is not rocket science to get one from the other. If a matching Aadhaar number is not found for a PAN, get only those details rather than troubling every single demat account holder. That will cut costs and minimise trouble for all concerned.
Finally, this government often claims that it will not interfere in the functioning of the courts: the matter is ‘sub-judice’ is an oft-heard refrain. The honourable courts should take cognisance of this and place all Aadhaar-related implementations in abeyance until the courts rule one way or the other. If they rule that privacy is indeed a fundamental right and the linking of Aadhaar should be limited to a set number of schemes, how does the government propose to ‘forget’ the collected data?
M. Diwakar,
Chennai
