Aadhaar verdict appears correct says main petitioner Justice Puttaswamy

Bengaluru, Sep 26: The lead petitioner in the Aadhaar plea before the Supreme Court says that the verdict to him appears to be correct. Justice K S Putaswamy from Bengaluru, was the main petitioners in the case and challenged the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act.

He tells Oneindia that looking at the matter in its entire view, it appears as through the majority verdict is correct. On the whole the judgment is fair and reasonable. We cannot say that the verdict suffers from any serious lapses that are found under the Constitution, particularly Article 19 which gives certain rights to citizens.

I am yet to read the entire verdict and would be able to comment further after that. From what I gather, this is a split verdict and a majority in the Bench (3:2) has upheld the validity of the Aadhaar Act. Justice Puttaswamy said that some sections such as 33(2) which has the national security clause and Section 57 which permits private players to seek Aadhaar details have been struck down.

The Aadhaar Act in my view was needed to crack down on criminals. For ordinary citizens like you and me, it is not of much benefit and not useful to the state either. The state has decided to collect all the data of individual citizens and will release it on certain conditions, he further added.

On the whole the judgment is fair and reasonable. We can't say verdict suffers from any serious lapses that are found under the constitution. Looking at all the matters in its entire view, the majority verdict appears to be correct, Justice Puttaswamy also said.

Justice K S Puttaswamy is a retired Judge of the Karnataka High Court who was is also the original petitioner in the Aadhaar case. He had filed a writ petition in 2012 and over the last five years, 26 other petitions were tagged along with his, challenging the scheme.

K.S. Puttaswamy studied at the Maharaja's College, Mysore and the Government Law College in Bangalore.