New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, upheld Aadhaar’s constitutional validity by saying that it serves the larger public interest. However, the apex court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which enabled private entities to have access to citizens' biometric data.

The BJP said this judgment is a big victory for the “pro-poor Modi government” as the apex court understood that the Aadhaar "does not violate privacy”.

Multiple senior ministers questioned the opposition narrative that forcing Aadhaar will be detrimental to the rights of the poor. HRD minister Prakash Javadekar quoted from page number 552 of the judgement saying, "Aadhaar enrolment of marginalised section of the society to avail the fruits of welfare schemes of the government, actually amounts to empowering these persons." 

 

 

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal quoted page number 541 of the Aadhaar judgement to lash out at the opposition.

 

 

Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a press release that he welcomes the judgment as a petitioner who had joined the original Aadhaar petition in 2013.

“The Narendra Modi government took several steps to ensure that the thousands of crores spend by UPA without any legislation, debate or scrutiny was put to proper use despite many misgivings about it. The Narendra Modi government ensured a proper legislation, debates in Parliament and outside and built-in safeguards to ensure concerns of abuse were addressed and it was integrated into Narendra Modi’s overall JDY Direct Benefit Transfer architecture,” Chandrasekhar said.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also hit back at the Congress after it projected the verdict as a “slap” on the face of the ruling party, saying the order has in fact exposed the opposition party. 

The Congress favoured middlemen while the Narendra Modi government brought Aadhaar to ensure that benefits are given directly to people, he said. 

That is why, Patra added, the Congress had moved the apex court against it. 

The court has ruled that Aadhaar is safe, he said.

"We see it as a big victory of the Modi government, the pro-poor Modi government. The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and has also said that it does not violate privacy," Patra said. 

He said the court has noted that Aadhaar gives strength to the poor. 

The Supreme Court like the Modi government has stood with the poor of the country, the BJP leader said. 

A majority verdict by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AK Sikri and AM Khanwilkar declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions, including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.

The top court said Aadhaar serves a bigger public interest. Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than be the best, it said.

Here is what Shobha Karandlaje has to say:

With inputs from PTI