HC criticises UIDAI for ‘unnecessary hardships’ due to technical irregularities in Aadhaar records

The Bombay High Court has criticised the Unique Identification Authority of India for “unnecessary hardship” to citizens, denial of access to services and avoidable litigation due to technical irregularities in Aadhaar records.

The UIDAI is a statutory body set up under the 2016 Aadhaar Act to issue 12-digit unique identity numbers to residents of India.

In an order passed on May 6, a bench of Justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Hiten S Venegavkar issued a set of directives to the statutory body to ensure that citizens are not unfairly burdened due to biometric anomalies or other technical irregularities in their Aadhaar records.

The bench remarked that “an eligible resident cannot be left remediless merely because an earlier biometric record is defective, particularly where there is no allegation of fraud or impersonation by the petitioners.”

Noting that the integrity of the Aadhaar database is a matter of public importance, the bench said that the implementation of the statutory framework must remain citizen-centric, facilitative and constitutionally compliant.

The order was issued on a petition filed by 19-year-old twin brothers, Rohit and Rahul Nikalje.

The petitioners said that they had been issued Aadhaar cards in 2012, when they were minors. In 2022, they attempted to update their biometrics but were met with a series of...

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