KARNATAKA HIGH COURT SEEKS DETAILS OF FUNCTIONING OF AROGYA SETU APPLICATION

12^TH NOVEMBER

The High Court of Karnataka issued the notice to the Central government on a PIL petition seeking a direction that the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app is made voluntary and not compulsory for retrieving any government service or a transportation facility such as rail and air travel.

The petition was filed by Anivar Arvind, who is a software engineer working for a non-profit organization to guard people’s rights in the digital space. A Division Bench, including Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty, approved the order on the petition. It said that the Aarogya Setu app discriminates against persons who do not use a smartphone due to financial reasons and also affects the right to privacy of citizens by making its use compulsory when it has access to the user’s location, the mandatory use was opposed in the petition.

Author: Shweta Singh