In a setback to the central government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the 7th October 2015, refused to modify its August 11 order restricting the use of Aadhar card for distribution of foodgrain under PDS, supply of kerosene oil and LPG.
The apex court bench headed by Justice J. Chelameswar while declining, for now, referred a batch of petitions seeking clarification/ modification of the August 11 order to the larger bench, saying that the main matter has been referred to the larger bench so the application seeking relaxation of the order too should be referred to it.
The court directed the registry to put all the applications seeking clarification/ modification before Chief Justice H.L. Dattu for appropriate order.
It may be pointed out that on 11 August 2015, the Supreme Court had passed the following interim order:
(1) The Union of India shall give wide publicity in the electronic and print media including radio and television networks that it is not mandatory for a citizen to obtain an Aadhaar card;
(2) The production of an Aadhaar card will not be condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to a citizen;
(3) The Unique Identification Number or the Aadhaar card will not be used by the respondents for any purpose other than the PDS Scheme and in particular for the purpose of distribution of foodgrains, etc. and cooking fuel, such as kerosene. The Aadhaar card may also be used for the purpose of the LPG Distribution Scheme;
(4) The information about an individual obtained by the Unique Identification Authority of India while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a Court for the purpose of criminal investigation.
It is this interim order that the Government wanted to get modified.
