Congress leader Kapil Sibal makes strong case against Aadhaar card
butSupreme Court remains unfazed;
here's what happened
NewsX 2018-02-07 14:19:54
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Ever since the Central government began pushing for Aadhaar Card in people's lives, it has become the biggest bone of contention of modern times in the country. Calling it an invasion of privacy, both public figures and the general public have come out opposing Aadhaar, and the disagreement still continues. On Tuesday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal championed the petition filed against the validity of Aadhaar card in Supreme Court of India and it was a fierce argument which led Sibal nowhere.
Advocate and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal was appearing for the petition filed by two individuals – Raghav Tankha and former IAS officer MG Devasahayam – from West Bengal and he began by aiming a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had earlier in Davos summit said that "whoever controls data is the most powerful and can shape the world".
Sibal said, "I accept that and say he who controls data in India, controls the country as he will exercise power like never before. I am not talking about surveillance, but data power. Aadhaar is the NDA's idea of government's right to information about citizens."
Justice DY Chandrachud, member of the five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, responded, "There has been a long list of judgments holding that a mere possibility of misuse will not lead to the striking down of legislation. We have a little bit of a problem with that line of your argument."
The Congress leader replied, "Misuse is happening. Misuse exists. Personal data is already out in the public domain. Once a genie is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back" So, if there is a consistent line of judgments, treat Aadhaar as an exception."
Justice Chandrachud said, "In the absence of technologically assured safe environment what level of risk is acceptable and what level of risk not acceptable.  How can this court determine?" To which Kapil Sibal replied, "Right to Information Act of 2005 made the citizen more powerful, but the Aadhaar Act wants to make the state more powerful.”