IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI, AT NEW DELHI

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO._____OF 2017

[UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA]

IN THE MATTER OF:-

Mr. Rajmohan Tiwari,

Having registered office at

24/50, Gali No. 2,

Sector 15, New Delhi …Petitioners

-Versus-

Union of India

Through its Secretary

Ministry of Law and Justice

Department of Legislative Affairs,

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi. …Respondents

 SYNOPSIS

The Petitioner, having its registered office in Sector 15, New Delhi and is an individual

involved voluntarily in issues relating to the Aadhaar mandate, has approached this

Hon'ble Court by way of the present Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution

seeking a writ of declaration that the provisions of the Aadhaar Act are in violation of

Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to the extent to which it

permits the government to have an access to all the confidential information of the

people, thereby infringing their privacy in entirety. The petitioner is aggrieved of the

basic provisions of this act, framed by the Parliament without having regard to those

people who do not have any involvement in the wrongful activities or without

considering the fact that not every individual is involved in illegal practices like money

laundering or corruption, so there is no point in keeping each and every person of this

country under a constant surveillance.

The petitioner therefore, hereby, intends to state that there should be separate laws for

the people who are involved under such wrongful as well as illegal activities and that

just for the sake of keeping them and their activities under a constant surveillance, the

rest of the people should not be harassed by showing this weapon of Aadhaar.

LIST OF DATES

2006:March 3rd: Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications

and Information Technology gave an administrative approval for a scheme to issue

unique ID for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

2006:December 4th: Constitution of an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to

collate two schemes -the National Population Register under the Citizenship Act, 1955

and the UID scheme.

2007: First meeting of the EgoM took place where the need for creating an identity

related resident database was recognized, thereby leading to the creation of Aadhaar.

2009: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was constituted for the

purpose of issuing unique identification numbers by the Central Government. It was

decided that the UIDAI will be executive in nature and function under the Planning

Commission. Nandan M. Nilekani was appointed as the first chairman of this

Authority.

2014: An order is issued by the Supreme Court in the case of UIDAI v. Central Bureau

of Investigation (CBI) (SLP (Crl) 2524/2014), (subsequently tagged with Justice

Puttaswamy’s petition) asking agencies to revoke any orders made by them making

Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits. Moreover, it also forbid the UIDAI from

sharing any information in the Aadhaar database with any agency without the data

subject’s consent. (Order dated 24thMarch, 2014)

2015: October: A five judge bench constituted for seeking clarifications on the August

order, reiterates that Aadhaar is not mandatory for availing any benefits, but in the

interim, expands the scope of the scheme to PDS, LPG, MNREGA, National Social

Assistance Program, PM’s Jan Dhan Yojna, and Employees’ Providend Fund

Organization. It further asks the CJI to expeditiously constitute a Bench for final hearing

of the matter. (Order dated 15thOctober,2015)

2016: March 26th: The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial & Other Subsidies,

Benefits & Services) Act, 2016 is notified in the Gazette of India.

2016: April 7th: Jairam Ramesh, member of Rajya Sabha, moves a petition (W.P. (C)

231/2016)in the Supreme Court challenging the introduction and passing of Aadhaar

Act as a money bill.

2016: April 25th: The Supreme Court wishes to hear the Attorney General on 10thMay,

2016 before issuing notice in the matter moved by Jairam Ramesh.

2016: September 12th: A set of notifications and regulations for the Aadhaar Act, 2016

released in the official Gazette. These are as follows:

 Sections 1 to 10, and 24 to 47 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 notified in the Gazette by the

Central Government. With this, the entire Aadhaar Act, except Section 21 have now

been notified.

 An order by the Central Government under Section 58 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016,

called the Aadhaar (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2016.

 A set of five Regulations for various processes under the Aadhaar Act, namely:

 Unique Identification Authority of India (Transaction of businesses at meetings

of the Authority) Regulations, 2016

 Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016

 Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulations, 2016

 Aadhaar (Data Security) Regulations, 2016

 Aadhaar (Sharing of information) Regulations, 2016

2017: January 4th: The Ministry of Labour and Employment released a notification

making it mandatory to furnish proof of possession ofAadhaar, or undergo Aadhaar

authentication to avail benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, or enroll for

Aadhaar latestby January31st, 2017

2017: January 5th: The case of S.G. Vombatkere & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.,

mentioned before CJI Khehar, and Justices N V Ramana, and D Y Chandrachud, and

requested to be heard on an urgent basis due to concerns regarding citizen’s privacy,

and the collection of biometric data by private entities as well. The Supreme Court

refused to expedite the process and reportedlysaid, “We are not inclined to give

immediate hearing as there are limited resources but biometric data collection by

private agencies is not a great idea.”

2017: February: Around 30 notifications were issued by various departments of Union

Ministries making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of certain welfare schemes

and subsidies. A list of these notifications maintained by SFLC.in can be accessed here.

2017: March 22nd: As a part of the Finance Bill, 2017 an amendment to the Income Tax

Act, 1961 was passed in the Lok Sabha. This amendment introduced Section 139AA that

made Aadhaar mandatory for filing of income tax returns, and for applying for a PAN

caed starting 1st July, 2017.

2017: April 26th: The Supreme Court heard the challenge of mandatory linking of

Aadhaat to PAN in the cases of Binoy Viswam v. Union of India

(W.P.(C)247/2017), S.G. Vombatkere & Anr. v. Union of India (W.P.(C) 277/2017). The

hearing for this case continued on April 27th and 28th, and May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI, AT NEW DELHI

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. __ OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

RAJMOHAN TIWARI
….………...………………………....PETITIONER

V.

UNION OF INDIA & ORS. …………………………….......RESPONDENT(S)

IN THE MATTER OF:

IN THE MATTER OF INFRINGEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

GUARENTEED UNDER ARTICLE 21 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

AND

IN THE MATTER OF:

CIVIL WRIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF

INDIA FOR THE ISSUE OF A WRIT/ORDER/DIRECTION IN THE NATURE OF

AN APPROPRIATE WRIT/ORDER/DIRECTION TO THE RESPONDENTS.

TO,

THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND HIS COMPANION JUSTICES OF THIS

HON’BLE COURT. THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE PETITIONER

ABOVENAMED.
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH THAT:

1. That the petition is filed and challenges the constitutional validity of the
Government’s Adhaar Programme as the Supreme Court ruled that all Indians
enjoy the Right to Privacy, a right that is protected under Article 21 of the
Constitution.

ARRAY OF PARTIES:

2. The petitioner hereby submits that, the Aadhaar Act, in itself is opposed to law

and general public policy and is violative of Right to Privacy guaranteed under

Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and hence is thereby liable to be struck

down on its entirety. The petitioner submits that the provisions contained in this

very legislation compel the people in general to link their personal account

details, which though are confidential in nature and therefore not to be brought

into the public domain, with the Unique Identification Authority of India, where

they compile of the necessary details of the people into a common public

database that remains always open to ill use by the offenders. Therefore there is

a complete violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Since this issue

has national significance, the petitioner has been advised to approach tis

Hon’ble Court by way of the present writ petition under Article 226 of the

Constitution of India.

3. The petitioners have not approached any other court or authority with same or

similar relief as against the respondents, as has been prayed for in this petition.

4. The petitioner Mr. Rajmohan Tiwari, is the chief of a registered society, which

was registered on 24.04.2004, having a registration number 452012. Certified

copy of the registration certificate of the aforesaid society has been annexed

herein along with vakalatnama.

5. The petitioner has been working in the area of privacy issues and provides

technical support to the government, non-government organizations on the

 privacy related matters. The petitioner has worked in several areas across the

countries like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar etc. and has acted as a referral

point for everybody in this field. The petitioner, since 2006 is also a member

with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). This

association works primarily in the areas like data breach, identity losses, loss of

customer trust, considering the fact that these pose a serious threat to many

organizations worldwide and especially for those whose functioning is totally

online. Therefore, in order to safeguard the data of individuals and thereby their

privacy, different strategic plans are made herein.

6. The petition has been filed purely in public interest with a view to draw the

worthy attention of this Hon’ble Court that there is a violation of fundamental

rights of the people under Article 21 of the Constitution of India whereby the

privacy of the people in general is being infringed.

7. The petitioner most respectfully begs the leave of this Hon’ble court to draw

attention to the fact that, Aadhaar has started to comprise within itself every

single aspect, which is required for the smooth functioning of our country, no

matter whether they hold of great importance in general or not, say for example,

the linking of Aadhaar to PAN and the Aadhaar required for availing other

government benefits. As we can see from Section 3 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016,

UIDAI, it creates a mandate for the people to possess an Aadhaar Card and

thereby compels the people in a way to submit their confidential biometric

details to the Unique Identification Authority of India by undergoing the

process of enrolment. The petitioner hereby submits that this is a clear violation

of the basic rights of the people as no one can be compelled to enroll oneself into

the public database with the UIDAI. The whole act should be voluntary and not

mandatory for the people.

8. It is the petitioner’s case that, the Permanent Account details of any individual

can’t be accessed without his will and voluntary consent. Where the

government is making the procurement of the Aadhaar details mandatory for

an individual, he would have no other option but to possess an Aadhaar and a

result he is giving a free access to the government authorities of his personal

account details. Therefore the government as and when it feels just, can have a

view of the personal account details of any person.

9. There may be a contention that, the government is accessing the accounts of the

people in order to identify as to who is stocking the black money and also to

know the sources of their income. But here, the genuine people also get crushed

under the rollers named Aadhaar, where a common man is earning income by

contributing his labor to his tasks and due to a handful of corrupt individuals

why should a common man be under a constant scanner named Aadhaar.

Therefore it amounts to a serious violation of Right to Privacy under Article 21

of the Constitution of India.

10. It is the Petitioner’s respectful submission that the provisions of the Aadhaar

Act are arbitrary. The petitioner observes no reason as to why there should be a

constant surveillance upon the various transactions that are being entered into

by the people. In fact for the handful of them, who create the whole mess, there

should be a formulation of some specific provisions or laws not at the cost of

people who are innocent or are not involved in any wrongful activity, at least

such people should be given some relief who do hard work to earn a living for

them and their family members. Therefore the parliament had no rationale

behind passing this particular legislation, it being contrary to general public

policies.
11. It is the Petitioner's contention that the Parliament has failed to suitably

protect the interests of the people while enacting the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and

thereby its provisions are violative of Right to Privacy of the people of India.

12. It is further to be submitted that, the Aadhaar Act, by virtue of its launch has

not only given enormous powers to the government but it has also opened all

the doors for the routine offenders as well as for the hackers to make an illicit

use of the confidential data that is available on the online databases of the

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Where the offenders have

learnt to duplicate even the biometric data of the people, by the use of resins,

since then the threat has increased to a next level.

13. The petitioner thereby humbly submits that all the provisions of the Aadhaar

Act are unconstitutional and are liable to be declared so by this Hon’ble

Court.

QUESTION OF LAW:

14. Whether the right to privacy becoming a fundamental right mean the Aadhaar
programme is unconstitutional or will be shut down and How will the right to

privacy play out across the broader rights spectrum?

15. Whether the Government’s Adhaar Programme is constitutionally valid as

the Supreme Court ruled that all Indians enjoy the Right to Privacy, a right that is
protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.

GROUNDS:

16. The present Writ Petition is being filed by the petitioners on following among

other grounds:-

16.1 For that the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, as passed by the

parliament are violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

16.2 For that purpose the current act creates a situation of unrest among the

general people, since, it would open all doors to their privacy. Anyone, if

wishes, to peep into the personal documents of an individual he can very

easily do so, since all the requisite data is available on the online platform

in the form of UIDAI database.

16.3 For that purpose the parliament has failed to recognize the need of the

hour, whereby the people’s interest is required to be safeguarded and has

made the laws considering the generality of the situation as a result of

which the people who are genuinely earning their income for the

maintenance of a specific standard of life, are being suffered as a result of

this whole activity.

16.4 For that purpose the government has mandated the enrolment of each

and every citizen for the Aadhaar upon the Unique Identification

Authority of India’s common database. The people, as a result thereof are

required to submit their biometric information to the authority who

would thereby perform the task of linking all the confidential

information, like, PAN, mobile numbers, etc. of an individual to that

common platform from where it goes very easy for an offender to make

an illicit use of that data.

16.5 For that purpose, the parliament by allowing Aadhaar to spread its

wings to more areas than before, it has imposed a great risk to the privacy

of individuals. It is humbly submitted before this Hon’ble court that the

position of the people after the Aadhaar concept has come to light is

highly vulnerable to exploitation. The parliament has not taken necessary

steps to control the situation and to reduce the plight of the people.

16.6 For that the Aadhaar Act, is unconstitutional since the recent Supreme

Court verdict on the privacy matter, which held that “Privacy” on an

 individual is an essence of his life and that the most important factor

contributing to the progressive nature of his life.

16.7 For that the parliament ought to have taken note of the recent

developments in the country and thereby taking the necessary steps as

required whereby the act ought to have been declared unconstitutional

on the ground of it being violating the essence of Privacy, in general.

Parliament has failed to keep pace with the global developments in this

particular aspect where the violation of privacy is considered a serious

offence in any other country and thus the people forbid, as much as they

can from interfering in the privacy of other individuals.

AVERMENTS:

17. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition in any High Court or the
Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER

In these premises, it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court be pleased

to –

a) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari or any

other writ of such nature, in the nature of a declaration, declaring that the

provisions of the Aadhaar Act as unconstitutional, they being violative of

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and therefore liable to be struck down.

b) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari or a

writ of declaration that possession of Aadhaar by each and every individual

is not mandatory and that ought to be kept optional for the people.
 c) Pass such other order or orders and directions as this Hon'ble Court may

deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case as also in the

interest of justice,

AND FOR THIS ACT OF KINDNESS THE PETITIONER AS IN DUTY BOUND

SHALL EVER PRAY.

FILED BY

(Sanjay Parihar)

ADVOCATE FOR THE PETITIONER

NEW DELHI

DRAWN ON- 20.09.2017

FILED ON- 25.09.2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI, AT NEW DELHI

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
 CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO._____OF 2017

[UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA]

IN THE MATTER OF:

Mr. Rajmohan Tiwari

…Petitioners

-Versus-

Union of India …Respondents

AFFIDAVIT

I, Rajmohan Tiwari, having his registered office at 24/50, Gali No. 2, Sector 15, New

Delhi, 121007, do hereby solemnly affirm and say as under:-

1. That I am the Secretary of the Petitioner in the above mentioned case and as such

I am fully conversant with the facts and proceedings of the case and hence

competent to affirm this affidavit.

2. That I have read and understood the contents of the accompanying Synopsis &

List of Dates, Writ Petition para 1 to 15 at pages 1 to____ and other applications
 and the same are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Nothing material is concealed nor is any part thereof false.

3. That the Annexures are the true and types copies of their respective originals.

_____________

S/D

DEPONENT

VERIFICATION

I, the deponent, verify that the contents of the aforesaid paragraphs of this affidavit are

true to my knowledge and belief. No part of it is false and nothing material has been

concealed therefrom.

Verified at New Delhi on this 24th Day of September, 2017.

S/D

DEPONENT