DELHI HC DIRECTED TO DISCLOSE UIDAI INFORMATION FOR INVESTIGATION

The Delhi High Court directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to disclose information about 450 people who were allegedly issued fake Aadhaar cards for enrolment in training for civil defence. 

The Court was hearing a case where it was alleged that the then-District Magistrate of Shahdara and a few other public officials abused their official position to give benefit to approx 450 candidates with fake Aadhaar cards, who had enrolled for civil defence training. The case was brought to light after one Vijender Gupta (complainant) moved before the Anti-Corruption Branch, New Delhi alleging that the procedure for recruitment of marshals for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses was illegal. The complainant alleged that the recruitment process was manipulated by the public servants mentioned above, who issued fake certificates to around 450 people from his home state of Rajasthan, showing them as Delhi residents for the purpose of making Aadhaar cards in their names.

In August 2019, a large number of fake Aadhaar cards with fake Delhi addresses were made for persons from the State of Rajasthan at the Aadhaar centre functioning. 

Additional Public Prosecutor Kusum Dhalla, appearing for the Delhi government, requested the Court to direct UIDAI to disclose information of the fake Aadhaar cards for the purpose of investigation. Advocate Nidhi Raman, appearing for UIDAI, told the Court that the authority had no disapproval towards sharing the information, to the extent as permissible under the provisions of the 2016 Aadhaar Act.

The Court ultimately directed the UIDAI to disclose all relevant information as required for the investigation. It furrher directed the investigating agency to investigate the matter upon receiving the  information.