Centre asked to respond to PIL alleging deactivation of Aadhaar cards

A division bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam called for the affidavit within three weeks stating the Centre’s position on the allegation made in the PIL, filed by the Joint Forum Against NRC.

The petition claimed that Aadhaar cards were being deactivated arbitrarily using provisions under Section 28A of the Aadhaar Act related to foreign nationals.

Allegation challenged

Additional Solicitor General Ashoke Chakrabarti questioned the PIL’s maintainability, saying no individual case of any person affected by such a deactivation had been cited in the petition. The bench, which included Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, told the petitioner to file an affidavit a week after the government’s response and said the matter would be heard again on April 25.

Foreign nationals

Chakrabarti said foreign nationals were coming to India and illegally obtaining Aadhaar cards in collusion with some government departments. This, he argued, created a national security problem. But the petitioner's counsel Jhuma Sen submitted that the provisions for deactivation of Aadhaar cards under Section 28A were outside the purview of the Aadhaar Act and arbitrary in nature.

Section 28A of the Aadhaar Act provides that a foreign national's Aadhaar number may be deactivated upon expiry of the period of validity of their visa for stay in India or when the authority is satisfied that such a foreign national does not fulfil the requirements for his entry into or stay in India under the Passport Act.