Rajasthan High Court Denies Bail To Government Officials Accused Of Facilitating Fake Aadhaar Cards, Cites National Security Concerns
Rajasthan High Court rejected second bail applications of accused persons charged with compromising the sanctity of UIDAI (Aadhar Card Project) by assisting a person who was operating an Aadhar Card Enrollment/Updatation Centre which was not in accordance with the conditions of UIDAI.
The bail applicants were government officials, who were working as programmer and assistance programmer, who were accused of being involved in fabrication, manipulation, and preparing forged and false Aadhar cards which could be used in anti-national activities.
While rejecting the bail application, the bench of Justice Ashok Kumar Jain observed that Rajasthan was a bordering state to Pakistan, and in border areas, resignation and updation in Aadhar data gave rise to activities that might be prejudicial to national interest.
“The uniqueness of the project (Aadhar) reflect that it has become one identity across the country, and same is used largely for direct benefit transfer, but due to some black-sheeps, the project has been misused by some of them, and people have created fake identity for financial or otherwise gains.”
For context, the order passed by the single bench that rejected the first bail application of the applicants, highlighted that the applicants provided password of the Government Internet- Raj-SWAN (Rajasthan State Wide Area Network) to the person operating the unauthorized centre, compromising the sanctity of the UIDAI, and obtained monetary benefits for the same.
Accordingly, the Court rejected the bail application of the applicants, opining their acts to be serious and grave.
“These petitioners are government servants, and after considering their role and involvement, I am of considered view that the petitioners does not deserve any leniency, at least for the reason that they are supposed to not only prevent any misuse of technology, but also expected to remain vigilant about any information of commission of crime using Aadhar as base.”
Accordingly, the bail applications were rejected.