'Aadhar Can Give Clues On Person's Whereabouts': MP High Court Asks UIDAI To Verify Aadhaar-Linked Activities Of Missing Girl To Trace Her

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday (October 7) asked the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) to verify if the Aadhaar number of a missing girl had been used in any form of online transactions, in order to discover clues about her location, also directing the body to share it with the police for tracing her. The court, in doing so, observed that since Aadhar is unique to every individual connected to their biometrics, the linkage of Aadhar with a mobile phone or bank account or other services can give clues on the corpus' whereabouts. The court was hearing a father's plea seeking the production of his missing daughter. Per the facts, the police had registered an FIR for Kidnapping (Section 363) under IPC. A colleague of the daughter was also examined, who disclosed the name of a man. However, the father claimed that the authorities neither checked his call details nor investigated the matter.Therefore, the court had directed the Police to investigate and interrogate the accused person and file a status report. Subsequently, the police in an earlier status report, said that "two persons who had allegedly abducted the corpus" have been examined along with their relatives, but the daughter could not be traced. The court had, in earlier orders, directed the police to intensify steps to trace the girl. Thereafter, the Police on Monday said that efforts were made to trace out the corpus by ascertaining whether her Aadhar card has been used for linking any bank account or mobile number. However, no such information has been provided by the Aadhar Seva Kendra, Jabalpur, on the ground that there is no such provision for verification of any linkage of Aadhar with any of the other services on the portal. However, the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Dwarka Dhish Bansal observed; "Since Aadhar is unique to every individual and is connected with biometric, it is not possible for an individual to obtain a second Aadhar Card and all bank accounts and mobile phones are to be linked with Aadhar. The Linkage of Aadhar with mobile phone or bank account or other services, can give clues to the whereabout of the corpus". In light of this, the court deemed it appropriate to issue notice to the UIDAI, directing the authority to verify whether the Aadhaar number of the missing girl had been used in any online transactions. The bench directed; "Accordingly, we deem it expedient to issue notice to Unique Identity Authority of India, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology... The authority is directed to verify as to whether the Aadhar number of the corpus has been used or linked for any online transaction including issuance of SIM card or opening of a bank account. Said information be shared with the Investigation Officer who shall on receipt of the information, if any, take further steps to trace out the corpus. Re-notify on 11.11.2025". The case was listed for November 11.Case Title: Sitaram Barman v State (WP-4672-2024)For Petitioner: Advocate Sushma PandeyFor State: Government Advocate S.S. ChouhanClick here to read/download Order

'Aadhar Can Give Clues On Person's Whereabouts': MP High Court Asks UIDAI To Verify Aadhaar-Linked Activities Of Missing Girl To Trace Her

Jayanti Pahwa

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