The Supreme Court of India is all set to deliver its verdict today on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act. The SC will rule on whether the Act is valid, whether the government of India can demand biometric and demographic information from every resident of the country and whether a a citizen’s privacy is a fundamental right.
There will be three separate judgments from Justices Sikri, Chandrachud and Bhushan while Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra and Justice Khanwilkar will not deliver separate judgments and will concur with one of the three other judges.
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The petitioners had, during the hearings, argued that the Act could act as a tool of mass surveillance on the state. The government of India has, in response, rebutted that Aadhaar will help weed out ghost beneficiaries of welfare schemes.
The Aadhaar hearing is the ‘second longest’ in terms of days of hearing after the Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973, which was heard by a 13-judge bench.
A five-judge bench, led by CJI Misra had earlier reserved its verdict on May 10 following a 38 year old hearing.
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