There is no need to read between the lines, as a clarification has indeed finally been issued that Aadhaar cards are not confirmative evidence of citizenship. This can be issued to non-citizens who are in the country legally, said an official of the Unique Identification Authority of India—UIDAI—to the Calcutta High Court. This announcement comes against the backdrop of a judicial scrutiny by a division bench of the High Court considering a challenge brought by the ‘Joint Forum Against NRC’ to the deactivation of Aadhaar cards in West Bengal.
By this, the UIDAI has clearly conveyed that the classification of a person as a foreigner shall have to be in consonance with the prescribed procedure under the Foreigners Act/Registration of Foreigners Rules by concerned authorities, thereby, repelling the apprehension of extravagant and unbridled power to the UIDAI for declaration of an individual as a foreigner leading to deactivation of his Aadhaar card.
“Aadhaar was required from birth to death registrations,” said the counsel representing the petitioners. Contrasted to that, the senior counsel of the UIDAI and the ASG contended the maintainability of the petition by protecting Aadhaar’s non-citizenship nature and its temporary issuance to non-citizens with a view to accessing government subsidies. The court could not but take cognisance of this, and its decision is bound to have wide ramifications for the Aadhaar system and its users.
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