Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar 'slap on BJP's face', says Congress

Hailing the Supreme Court verdict to strike down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed private entities to access Aadhaar data, the Congress on Wednesday said that the judgment was a 'slap on the face of the BJP'.

While the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, it ruled that private entities can no longer demand Aadhaar verification.

Minutes after the judgment, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted, "Slap on the face of BJP. Justice Sikri judgment strikes down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act, 2016, which says private body corporates can seek Aadhaar data. Says it’s unconstitutional. All plans to monetise biometric data now fail."

Also Read | Aadhaar verdict ‘historic’, scheme helped Centre save Rs 90,000 crore annually: Arun Jaitley

The BJP, however, described the judgment “historic” and claimed that the scheme was saving Rs 90,000 crore every year with targeted delivery of government schemes.

"It is a historic judgment and the whole concept of unique identification number that has been accepted after judicial review is an extremely welcome decision, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Also Read | Why Aadhaar verdict holds good for govt services, not for private ones

"There are now 122 crore people in India who have Aadhaar cards and our estimation is that by identifying beneficiaries of government schemes and ensuring that there are no fake or duplicate or non-existent beneficiaries, we are already saving Rs 90,000 crore every year," the finance minister added.

Dear @arunjaitley & @BJP4India while you may shy away from telling the truth, we have no problem in exposing your lies. #AadharVerdict pic.twitter.com/FZ0atPIcBW

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2018