"Not Fancy Car Number Plate": Businessman's Plea For New Aadhaar Opposed

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) today opposed before the Delhi High Court a plea seeking issuance of a fresh Aadhaar number to a businessman, saying such a request would be like people seeking a vehicle registration number of their choice.

"It will be like a fancy number plate of a car," UIDAI counsel Zoheb Hossain told Justice Rekha Palli who was hearing a plea alleging that the petitioner's personal details, including Aadhaar number, have been compromised.

The counsel stated that the existing framework provided "layers of safeguard" to Aadhaar cardholders and, if allowed, "there will be a large number of people" seeking change of their Aadhaar numbers. He also suggested that the petitioner update his mobile and email address to ensure exclusivity.

On an earlier occasion, UIDAI had said that the moment an Aadhaar number is issued, the person concerned and the number are "locked together for life".

The court had, however, responded that had that been the case, power would not have been given to UIDAI under Section 23 (n) of the Aadhaar (Targeted delivery of financial and other subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016, to lay down conditions and procedure for issuance of new Aadhaar number for exiting holders.

It had, nonetheless, agreed that an Aadhaar number could not be changed "at the whims and fancies" of a user.

The petitioner, a businessman, had approached the court seeking a new Aadhaar number, saying he was facing difficulties in his business on account of the existing one being found to be linked to an overseas entity.

In the petition filed through advocates Sonal Anand and Surabhi Singh, the petitioner also prayed for a mechanism and procedure for the issuance of a new number to existing cardholders, directions for protection of the fundamental right of privacy and prevention of further breach and damages.

The petitioner said he requested UIDAI to issue him a new Aadhaar number in light of a serious threat to his identity, which was turned down on the grounds that no resident could have a duplicate Aadhaar number and that there was no process for issuance of a new Aadhaar number to any citizen.

The matter would be heard next in January.