The Centre informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it has asked the Delhi government to contest a petition seeking linking of immovable and movable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar numbers.
A Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted four weeks to the Delhi government to file a detailed reply on the petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and listed the case for further hearing on November 30.
Central government lawyer Manish Mohan told the Bench, “When I sought instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs, they issued this letter dated March 10, 2022, saying the Delhi government will contest this matter. In view of this letter, let them file a formal affidavit”.
“I am directed to forward herewith an Office Memorandum… received from Legislative Department of Ministry of Law & Justice on the subject cited above and to request you [Delhi government] to defend the petition on behalf of Union of India (Ministry of Home Affairs) also,” said the letter written by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the Delhi government.
Issue notice
Mr. Upadhyay argued that if the Aadhaar of citizens is linked with their properties, corruption would reduce by 25%. He also urged the High Court to issue notice to certain other Ministries mentioned in the MHA letter, including Ministries of Law, Housing & Urban Development, and Finance.
In his plea, Mr. Upadhyay sought to link movable and immovable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar number to curb corruption, blackmoney generation and ‘benami’ transactions.
Mr. Upadhyay said it is the duty of the state to take appropriate steps to curb corruption and seize ‘benami’ properties made by illegal means to give a strong message that the government is determined to fight against corruption and blackmoney generation.
“If the government links property with Aadhaar, it will lead to an increment of two per cent in annual growth. It will clean our electoral process, which is dominated by blackmoney and benami transaction and thrives on a cycle of large black investments, capture of power through foul means, use of political strength to amass private wealth, all with disdain of the citizen,” the plea said.
The plea has claimed that ‘benami’ transaction in high denomination currency is used in illegal activities – terrorism, Naxalism, separatism, gambling, money laundering and bribing. “It also inflates the price of essential commodities as well as major assets like real estate and gold. These problems can be curbed to a great extent by linking movable-immovable properties with the owner’s Aadhaar number,” it further claimed.
