'Infiltrators Getting Aadhaar Cards' : PIL In Supreme Court Seeks To Limit Aadhaar Enrolment Only For Children Below 6 Years

A public interest litigation has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking that an Aadhaar Card be issued to citizens only upto the age of 6 years, and after the said ceiling limit, they be allowed to obtain an Aadhaar from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate/Tehsildar office.The PIL has been filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay impleading the Union of India, the States/Union Territories and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). It seeks a direction to the UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar card only to children and framing of stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to prevent infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens.Further, the petitioner seeks directions for the conspicuous display of punishment for obtaining government documents by filing false documents. He also seeks installation of a 'Display Board' at Common Service Centres and other places, mentioning that 'Aadhaar is proof of Identity only, Not of Citizenship, Address and Date of Birth'.The petitioner also seeks a declaration that sentences for obtaining fake document for identity, citizenship, residence and date of birth shall run consecutively. Another relief sought is that the authorities obtain an undertaking for an Aadhaar applicant that the averments made in their application are true and they are aware of the consequences of submitting false documents, false information, etc.In his petition, the petitioner claims that due to a weak verification process, infiltrators obtain an Aadhaar card and then use it as a document to get Ration Card, Birth Certificate, Domicile Certificate and Driving License, etc., to the detriment of genuine citizens."Foreigners apply for the AADHAAR under Foreign Category. But the Infiltrators apply for AADHAAR under Indian Citizen category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain Ration Card, Birth & Domicile Certificate, Driving Licence etc essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian Citizens. UIDAI Office Memorandum dated 22.8.2023 forms two classes of AADHAAR i.e. Foreigners and Nationals but the Act does not provide any measures to maintain this distinction", the plea states.The petitioner claims that under the present system, Aadhaar can be made on the recommendation of a Village Pradhan or Municipal Councilor. This results in unentitled infiltrators obtaining an Aadhaar and availing subsidies and welfare benefits which are not meant for them.He further asserts that the misuse of the Aadhaar Act has rendered it temporarily unreasonable. "the Aadhaar Act has become temporally unreasonable and arbitrary in its present form, insofar it draws no distinction between Nationals and foreigners, while the subsequent OM's of UIDAI, disclose the legislative intent to do so."The petitioner highlights that the infiltrators pose a great risk to the rights of north-eastern tribal people, who seldom avail government documents. "This situation is particularly grave, in regards to the North-Eastern States, where there is a huge population of Tribes. Tribal People do not usually apply for government documents, and therefore, risk losing their areas to infiltrators masquerading as citizens. These non-citizens, with the legal backing of governmental documents, place their claim on the areas, endangering the identity of the Tribal people."The petition avers that Section 3 of the Aadhaar Act carries a loophole, insofar as it entitles every "resident" to obtain an Aadhaar number. This creates an open-ended and perpetual entitlement to enroll, it says.The petitioner justifies the 6-yr ceiling limit by submitting that as per UIDAI's own estimates, as on 31 March 2026, the Authority has generated 144 crore Aadhaar numbers. "As the Aadhaars of approximately all the Citizens have been made, only newborns will have the necessity of an Aadhaar. So, the cap upto 06 years is reasonable."The petitioner also claims that illegal immigrants are using West Bengal as a corridor to migrate to other parts of the country. "Huge numbers of illegal migrants have occupied vast tracts of land, particularly at sensitive international border, which has very serious implication for national security...As Bangladeshi are cultural similar to the Bengali people in India, they are able to pass off as Indian citizens and settle down in any part of India to establish a far better future than they could in Bangladesh, for a very small price."As per the petitioner, there are illegal immigrants living in Mizoram and Delhi as well. "There are estimated 50000-100000 Burmese China immigrants residing in India, mostly in Mizoram and a small number in Delhi. There are about 10000 people from Pakistan living illegally."The petition also raises concerns about infiltrators affecting the election process in the country. It argues that under Section 109 of the BSA, the burden of proving citizenship has to be placed on an "infiltrator"."Citizenship of a person is something that the person has to prove on his own....

'Infiltrators Getting Aadhaar Cards' : PIL In Supreme Court Seeks To Limit Aadhaar Enrolment Only For Children Below 6 Years

Debby Jain

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