Supreme Court seeks Centre’s reply on plea against use of Aadhaar data by private companies

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea against amendments to the law allowing voluntary use of Aadhaar as proof of identity to open bank accounts and get mobile phone connections.

File image of an Aadhaar card | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Centre on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments made in the law allowing private entities to use the Aadhaar data for voluntary authentication of customers.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice B R Gavai, took note of the plea filed by S G Vombatkere, who alleged that the 2019 amendments into the Aadhaar Act was violative of the earlier apex court judgments.

Earlier, a five-judge constitution bench, while upholding the validity of Aadhaar act, had made certain exceptions and said private entity cannot be allowed to use the data even for voluntary authentication of customers’ details.

Later, the Centre amended the law allowing voluntary use of Aadhaar as proof of identity for users to open bank accounts and get mobile phone connection.

The apex court issued notice on the fresh PIL and tagged it with a separate pending case for hearing.