Aadhaar Act norm goes beyond scope of statute, HC told
Times of India | 13 August 2024
Kolkata: The Joint Forum Against NRC on Monday challenged in Calcutta High Court the constitutional validity of Regulation 28A under Aadhaar Act, 2023, on the grounds that the regulation went beyond the scope of the statute. A division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya directed the forum’s counsel to serve a notice on the govt pleader and fixed the next hearing on Aug 22.
Regulation 28A talks about deactivation of certain Aadhaar numbers in which the visa validity of a foreign national in India has expired.It also talks about deactivation of Aadhaar numbers upon satisfaction that the foreign national doesn’t fulfil the requirements for his/her entry or stay in India.
Jhuma Sen, the forum’s counsel, said that the second part of the regulation travelled well beyond the scope and ambit of the Aadhaar Act, which focuses on targeted subsidies, benefits and rights of Aadhaar card-holders and not on citizenship or foreign nationality. “I fully agree that having an Aadhaar number has nothing to do with citizenship. The objects and reasons of the Act, particularly section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, clearly says so. But the regulation goes beyond the ambit of the Act. The ‘satisfaction’ clause mentioned in Regulation 28A needs to be probed,” she submitted.
Sen argued that Centre didn’t even follow procedure laid down under Regulation 29 underlining a field inquiry before deactivating Aadhaar numbers. In her support, she showcased the CM’s letter to the PMO, which made it clear that no field inquiry was undertaken before deactivating Aadhaar numbers.
Sen also submitted that Centre, in its affidavit to the court, only referred to an advisory issued by it on Feb 28, 2018, advising states to sensitize law enforcement agencies to take prompt steps to identify illegal migrants. Sen’s submission was in response to the Unique Identification Authority of India’s point. Its counsel had referred to Section 28A of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which provides that UIDAI may deactivate Aadhaar numbers of foreign nationals if they do not fulfil the requisites of his/her entry into or stay in India.