Aadhaar, minimum requirement for poor to live in dignity: UIDAI tells SC

Aadhaar is a minimum requirement for a poor man to live in dignity by availing benefits, the Supreme Court was told. The submission was made by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) before a Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra.

It was further submitted that while testing a law, the court should not imagine all sorts of abuse that would happen. In reality, there is no scare which has been caused by the petitioners, UIDAI counsel Rakesh Diwedi said.

In testing a law don't be a crusader like an NGO, have a positive and not a negative approach. Why should the court think of stalling and collapsing a law when judicial tools are available to make Aadhaar work better, rather than striking it down." He said Aadhaar seeks to secure the poor and deprived sections of society to live their life and exercise their liberty by providing them with a nationally acceptable identity, which gives them pride, dignity and self-respect that they are part of the society, it was further submitted.

The object of the law is to ensure to the people adequate food at affordable prices so that people live with dignity, Diwedi also contended. When the government has created vast infrastructure and 99 per cent of the population has Aadhaar, none can say that it is bad. In case of the gaps, the same can be filled up by the court by issuing guidelines, he also said.