Why is Aadhaar mandatory for scholarships, asks HC

Challenging the constitutional validity of such a policy, the petitioner contended that it was violation of Supreme Court's judgement.

The Delhi High Court on wednesday sought to know how and why has the Centre made Aadhaar card mandatory for students from minority communities to apply for various scholarships devised for their benefit.

A bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini issued notice to the Centre on a petition claiming that the policy making Aadhaar card mandatory for applying for pre-matric, post- matric and merit-cum-means scholarships meant to benefit students from minority communities was "arbitrary".

"Why is this kind of instruction being issued? How can you (Centre) say that Aadhaar is mandatory? You take notice and the concerned officer shall file the reply by September 23," the bench said.

The PIL, filed by West Bengal-based Nasimuddin educational and charitable trust, has alleged that the policy was arbitrary and discriminatory as it benefitted only those holding Aadhaar cards.

Challenging the constitutional validity of such a policy, the petitioner contended that it was violation of Supreme Court's judgement which had said that Aadhar Card would not be mandatory for availing benefits of government's welfare schemes.

The petition, filed through advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, referred to the July 14, 2016 communication of the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) which had asked the chief secretary or administrators of the states to advertise for the various national scholarships and which makes Aadhar card mandatory for all students willing to apply for scholarships.