Now Reading: Bombay High Court urges Centre to amend Aadhaar Act to deport infiltrators
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Bombay High Court urges Centre to amend Aadhaar Act to deport infiltrators
Bombay High Court urges Centre to amend Aadhaar Act to deport infiltrators
The Bombay High Court has asked the Union government and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to consider amending the Aadhaar Act, 2016, to help agencies trace and deport foreign nationals…
The Bombay High Court has asked the Union government and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to consider amending the Aadhaar Act, 2016, to help agencies trace and deport foreign nationals who fraudulently obtain Aadhaar cards and other documents to conceal their identities. A division bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata noted a 'concerning pattern' of foreigners infiltrating India's borders and using forged documents to claim Indian citizenship, with some engaging in anti-national activities.
The court observed a critical gap in inter-agency coordination and document verification procedures. It said the continued stay of such infiltrators emboldens further infiltration and the manufacture of forged documents. The order came on a plea by the Mumbai Police seeking details of documents used by an alleged Afghan national, Majid Khan Shah Hajrat Shah, to obtain an Aadhaar card. UIDAI had cited Section 29 of the Aadhaar Act, which bars disclosure of Aadhaar details without a court order.
The bench directed the concerned departments to consider amending the Act to carve out exceptions for investigating agencies in cases of human trafficking and border infiltration, stressing that time is of the essence and investigations must be completed swiftly.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The High Court's intervention exposes a procedural deadlock built into the Aadhaar Act itself: Section 29 prohibits sharing Aadhaar authentication data even with law enforcement, unless a court orders it, creating a bottleneck when agencies need to verify the identity of suspected infiltrators. The 2016 Act was designed primarily to prevent identity fraud by residents, not to aid immigration enforcement, so exceptions for national security were never built in. Amending the Act would require parliamentary approval, and the government must decide whether to carve out a narrow exception for foreign nationals or broaden disclosure rules for all criminal investigations. The real test will be how quickly the Ministry of Law and UIDAI can draft and introduce a bill, and whether Parliament prioritises this in the next session.
The court flagged that multiple such petitions from the state police indicate the problem is not isolated.
Source: livelaw.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
