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Recently, the Delhi High Court directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to disclose information pertaining to around 450 persons who were allegedly issued fake Aadhaar cards for the purpose of enrolment in training for civil defence. 

The Bench was hearing a matter wherein it was alleged that the recruitment process of marshals for DTC buses was manipulated and that District Magistrate, Shahdara had issued fake certificates, certifying as Delhi residents for making Aadhaar Cards, to over 400 people from his home state i.e. Rajasthan and had compelled to pay as much as Rs. 2 Lakhs per head.

The single bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh directed the UIDAI to,

"Provide all relevant information, qua the persons named in Annexure P-3 of the petition, as required for the purposes of investigation as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act.”

The Bench also directed the Investigation Agency to investigate the matter, upon receiving the requested information, with due regard to the provisions of the statute.

A complaint was made by one Vijender Gupta before the Anti-Corruption Branch, New Delhi alleging that the manner of recruitment of marshals for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses was illegal.

It was alleged that in August 2019, a large number of fake Aadhaar cards with bogus Delhi addresses were made for persons from Rajasthan at the Aadhaar centre functioning within the jurisdiction of the District Magistrate.

subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was lodged on January 24, 2020, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act read with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code by the Anti-Corruption Unit.

Additional Public Prosecutor Kusum Dhalla, appearing for the Delhi government, requested the Court to direct UIDAI to disclose information pertaining to the fake Aadhaar cards for the purpose of investigation.

“The disclosure of such information by UIDAI is only for investigative purposes and in no way amounts to an invasion of the right to privacy of the card-holders,” he argued.

On the other hand advocate Nidhi Raman, appearing for UIDAI, informed the Court that the authority had no objection to sharing the information being sought, to the extent and in a manner as permissible under the provisions of the 2016 Aadhaar Act.

 [Case title - State, Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) v. Unique Identification Authority of India]