The safeguards provided by the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar will prove to be ineffective, the CPI(M) said here on Wednesday.
The party’s polit bureau said lakhs of people would continue to be denied their universal rights for not having Aadhaar.
“The Supreme Court’s so-called safeguards will prove to be ineffective. The benefits for the poor and marginalised sections can only be reached if Aadhaar is explicitly made non-mandatoryThe CPI(M) will continue its struggle on this score,” the statement said.
The party said the judgment would help little in protecting the right to privacy because the Centre had privatised or outsourced many of its responsibilities. Such companies would have access to Aadhaar data.
The party, however, welcomed the minority judgment of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who has held that the passing of the Aadhaar legislation in Parliament as a Money Bill is a fraud on the Constitution.
The CPI, while welcoming the judgment, said the government’s claims of victory were misplaced. “The judgment clearly highlights the concerns [around] the right to privacy and data protection measures. It has barred private entities from demanding Aadhaar details. All this points to the obvious loopholes in the existing scheme and is a slap on the government,” CPI leader D. Raja said.
