SC seeks response from centre and states over misuse of Aadhaar as Citizenship Proof

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday intervened in the ongoing national debate regarding database overreach by issuing formal notices to the Central government, all state administrations, and Union Territories. The judicial action came in response to a public interest litigation alleging widespread institutional misuse of Aadhaar cards, which are reportedly being accepted as absolute proof of citizenship, permanent domicile, and local residence. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana presided over the preliminary hearing, directing that this fresh petition be tagged alongside pending, structurally similar litigations for a unified constitutional assessment.

The petition, filed by prominent advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks sweeping directives to ensure the biometric system remains strictly confined to its original legislative purpose—a tool for identity verification. The plea specifically argues that allowing the card to serve as a proof of age, residence, or birth status in crucial procedures like school admissions, property acquisitions, and voter registration application forms directly violates the country's statutory guidelines. The petitioners heavily criticized the structural loopholes in the current Form-6 voter registration framework, warning that the inadequate verification system inadvertently allows illegal immigrants and undocumented infiltrators to slip into the national electoral database.

To anchor its legal challenge, the petition highlighted Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which explicitly decrees that the identification number cannot be used as valid evidence of legal citizenship or state domicile. This statutory boundary was further reinforced by a clear notification from the Unique Identification Authority of India issued on August 22, 2023, which reiterated that the card verifies identity alone, rather than validating an individual's date of birth or nationality. The petition contends that ignoring these boundaries across government departments directly conflicts with Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and breaches the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.