Chapter VIII
MISCELLANEOUS
48. Power of Central Government to supersede Authority.
48. Power of Central Government to supersede Authority.—(1) If, at any time, the Central Government is of the opinion,—
(a) that, on account of circumstances beyond the control of the Authority, it is unable to discharge the functions or perform the duties imposed on it by or under the provisions of this Act; or
(b) that the Authority has persistently defaulted in complying with any direction given by the Central Government under this Act or in the discharge of the functions or performance of the duties imposed on it by or under the provisions of this Act and as a result of such default the financial position of the Authority or the administration of the Authority has suffered; or
(c) that a public emergency exists,
the Central Government may, by notification, supersede the Authority for such period, not exceeding six months, as may be specified in the notification and appoint a person or persons as the President may direct to exercise powers and discharge functions under this Act:
Provided that before issuing any such notification, the Central Government shall give a reasonable opportunity to the Authority to make representations against the proposed supersession and shall consider the representations, if any, of the Authority.
(2) Upon the publication of a notification under sub-section (1), superseding the Authority,—
(a) the Chairperson and other Members shall, as from the date of supersession, vacate their offices as such;
(b) all the powers, functions and duties which may, by or under the provisions of this Act, be exercised or discharged by or on behalf of the Authority shall, until the Authority is reconstituted under sub-section (3), be exercised and discharged by the person or persons referred to in sub-section (1); and
(c) all properties owned or controlled by the Authority shall, until the Authority is reconstituted under sub-section (3), vest in the Central Government.
(3) On or before the expiration of the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1), the Central Government shall reconstitute the Authority by a fresh appointment of its Chairperson and other Members and in such case any person who had vacated his office under clause (a) of sub-section (2) shall not be deemed to be disqualified for reappointment.
(4) The Central Government shall cause a copy of the notification issued under sub-section (1) and a full report of any action taken under this section and the circumstances leading to such action to be laid before each House of Parliament at the earliest.
49. Members, officers, etc., to be public servants.
49. Members, officers, etc., to be public servants.—The Chairperson, Members, officers and other employees of the Authority shall be deemed, while acting or purporting to act in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act, to be public servants within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
50. Power of Central Government to issue directions.
50. Power of Central Government to issue directions.—(1) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Act, the Authority shall, in exercise of its powers or the performance of its functions under this Act be bound by such directions on questions of policy, as the Central Government may give, in writing to it, from time to time:
Provided that the Authority shall, as far as practicable, be given an opportunity to express its views before any direction is given under this sub-section:
Provided further that nothing in this section shall empower the Central Government to issue directions pertaining to technical or administrative matters undertaken by the Authority.
(2) The decision of the Central Government, whether a question is one of policy or not, shall be final.
50-A. Exemption from tax on income.
[i][50-A. Exemption from tax on income.—Notwithstanding anything contained in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) or any other enactment for the time being in force relating to tax on income, profits or gains, the Authority shall not be liable to pay income-tax or any other tax in respect of its income, profits or gains.]
51. Delegation.
51. Delegation.—The Authority may, by general or special order in writing, delegate to any [ii][Member or officer] of the Authority or any other person, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order, such of its powers and functions under this Act (except the power under Section 54) as it may deem necessary.
52. Protection of action taken in good faith.
52. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government or the Authority or the Chairperson or any Member or any officer, or other employees of the Authority for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rule or regulation made thereunder.
53. Power of Central Government to make rules.
53. Power of Central Government to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely—
(a) the form and manner in which and the authority before whom the oath of office and of secrecy is to be subscribed by the Chairperson and Members under sub-section (2) of Section 14;
[iii][(aa) the purpose for which the requesting entity may be allowed by the Authority to perform authentication under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-section (4) of Section 4;]
(b) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of service of, the Chairperson and the allowances or remuneration payable to Members of the Authority under sub-section (4) of Section 14;
(c) the other powers and functions of the Chairperson of the Authority under Section 17;
(d) the other powers and functions of the Authority under clause (t) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(e) the form of annual statement of accounts to be prepared by Authority under sub-section (1) of Section 26;
(f) the form and the manner in which and the time within which returns and statements and particulars are to be furnished under sub-section (1) of Section 27;
(g) the form and the manner and the time at which the Authority shall furnish annual report under sub-section (2) of Section 27;
[iv][(ga) the qualification and experience of, and the manner of appointment of, the Adjudicating Officer under sub-section (1) of Section 33-B;
(gb) the form, manner, and fee for an appeal to be filed under sub-section (2) of Section 33-C;]
(h) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed, or in respect of which provision is to be or may be made by rules.
54. Power of Authority to make regulations.
54. Power of Authority to make regulations.—(1) The Authority may, by notification, make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules made thereunder, for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely—
[v][(a) the entities or group of entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem under clause (aa), the biometric information under clause (g) and the demographic information under clause (k), the process of collecting demographic information and biometric information from the individuals by enrolling agencies under clause (m), and the modes of offline verification of Aadhaar number holder under clause (pa) of Section 2;]
(b) the manner of verifying the demographic information and biometric information for issue of Aadhaar number under sub-section (3) of Section 3;
[vi][(ba) the manner of generating an alternative virtual identity under sub-section (4) of Section 3;
(bb) the manner in which cancellation of an Aadhaar number may be carried out under sub-section (2) of Section 3-A;]
(c) the conditions for accepting an Aadhaar number as proof of identity of the Aadhaar number holder under sub-section (3) of Section 4;
[vii][(ca) standards of privacy and security to be complied with by the requesting entities under sub-section (4) of Section 4;
(cb) the classification of requesting entities under sub-section (5) of Section 4;]
(d) the other categories of individuals under Section 5 for whom the Authority shall take special measures for allotment of Aadhaar number;
(e) the manner of updating biometric information and demographic information under Section 6;
(f) the procedure for authentication of the Aadhaar number under Section 8;
[viii][(fa) the alternate and viable means of identification of individual under the proviso to clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 8;
(fb) the manner of obtaining consent under clause (a) of sub-section (2), the manner of providing information to the individual undergoing offline verification under sub-section (3), and the obligations of offline verification-seeking entities under clause (c) of sub-section (4) of Section 8-A;]
(g) the other functions to be performed by the Central Identities Data Repository under Section 10;
(h) the time and places of meetings of the Authority and the procedure for transaction of business to be followed by it, including the quorum, under sub-section (1) of Section 19;
(i) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of service of, the chief executive officer, officers and other employees of the Authority under sub-section (2) of Section 21;
(j) the demographic information and biometric information under clause (a) and the manner of their collection under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(k) the manner of maintaining and updating the information of individuals in the Central Identities Data Repository under clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(l) the manner of omitting and deactivating an Aadhaar number and information relating thereto under clause (g) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(m) the manner of use of Aadhaar numbers for the purposes of providing or availing of various subsidies, benefits, services and other purposes for which Aadhaar numbers may be used under clause (h) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(n) the terms and conditions for appointment of Registrars, enrolling agencies and other service providers and the revocation of appointments thereof under clause (i) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(o) the manner of sharing information of Aadhaar number holder under clause (k) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(p) various processes relating to data management, security protocol and other technology safeguards under clause (m) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(q) the procedure for issuance of new Aadhaar number to existing Aadhaar number holder under clause (n) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(r) manner of authorising Registrars, enrolling agencies or other service providers to collect such fees for services provided by them under clause (o) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(s) policies and practices to be followed by the Registrar, enrolling agencies and other service providers under clause (r) of sub-section (2) of Section 23;
(t) the manner of accessing the identity information by the Aadhaar number holder under the proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 28;
(u) the manner of sharing the identity information, other than core biometric information, collected or created under this Act under sub-section (2) of Section 29;
(v) the manner of alteration of demographic information under sub-section (1) and biometric information under sub-section (2) of Section 31;
(w) the manner of and the time for maintaining the request for authentication and the response thereon under sub-section (1), and the manner of obtaining, by the Aadhaar number holder, the authentication records under sub-section (2) of Section 32;
(x) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, specified, or in respect of which provision is to be or may be made by regulations.
55. Laying of rules and regulations before Parliament.
55. Laying of rules and regulations before Parliament.—Every rule and every regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or regulation, or both the Houses agree that the rule or regulation should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation.
56. Application of other laws not barred.
56. Application of other laws not barred.—The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force.
57. Act not to prevent use of Aadhaar number for other purposes under law.
57. Act not to prevent use of Aadhaar number for other purposes under law.—[ix][* * *]
58. Power to remove difficulties.
58. Power to remove difficulties.—(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order, published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as may appear to be necessary for removing the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made under this section after the expiry of three years from the commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.
59. Savings.
59. Savings.—Anything done or any action taken by the Central Government under the Resolution of the Government of India, Planning Commission bearing Notification Number A-43011/02/2009-Admin. I, dated the 28th January, 2009, or by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology under the Cabinet Secretariat Notification bearing Notification Number S.O. 2492(E), dated the 12th September, 2015, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have been validly done or taken under this Act.
References
[i] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 21 (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[ii] Substituted for “Member, officer” by Act 14 of 2019, S. 22 (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[iii] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 23(i) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[iv] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 23(ii) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[v] Substituted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 24(i) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[vi] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 24(ii) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[vii] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 24(iii) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[viii] Inserted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 24(iv) (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
[ix] Omitted by Act 14 of 2019, S. 25 (w.e.f. 25-7-2019).
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