In one of the first decisions taken by the Delhi High Court against the government’s linkage of Aadhaar to essential services, which might set precedence for similar cases in future, it has appointed advocate Zoheb Hossain as “commissioner of the Court” to look into matters regarding exclusion from food security due to Aadhaar.

The Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court against Aadhaar on March 8. The network of about 30 non-profit organisations working on issues related to food security wanted the notification making it mandatory for people to possess an Aadhaar cards to purchase food grains on subsidy to be overthrown.

On February 8, the Narendra Modi-led government notified that Aadhaar was mandatory to purchase food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The appointment of the commissioner is one of the first push-backs against the government, which has been promoting Aadhaar to be linked with multiple utilities, disbursements, income tax, and subsidies.

The court has asked Hossain to meet aggrieved people and visit retail points using Aadhaar-based point-of-sale devices and report the situation back to the Court.

These linkages have given rise to a bigger debate over personal privacy and security, and have led to the creation of many anti-Aadhaar groups.

The DRRAA and Satark Nagarik Sangathan, a citizens’ group working towards promoting transparency in governance, also published a detailed report on the increasing number of instances of exclusion from food security with Aadhaar being linked to the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Apar Gupta, one of the legal counsels to the petitioner, argued that mandating Aadhaar to purchase ration violates Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The High Court had sought responses from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in this ongoing case.

The legal representative of the government requested the bench, comprising of acting Chief Justice Geeta Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar, to dismiss the matter. He argued that “similar cases were pending before the Supreme Court, but judges declined those requests.”

Under the NFSA, every person listed for ration is entitled to five kg of foodgrains per month.

Gupta highlighted that Aadhaar was leading to exclusion in a few ways, such as families not having Aadhaar cards and not getting ration cards on that premise. “Despite having several (identity) proofs, several people were denied ration. These were mostly children, who did not have Aadhaar cards,” argued Gupta in the court.

Some of the other instances of citizens being denied ration are linked to not being given ration cards despite having other documents in place, and old people who came repeatedly but did not get rations because of biometric mismatches.

The other problem often occurred at the point-of-sale. About a couple of years ago, the Delhi government had done a pilot with Aadhaar-enabled POS devices in 42 ration shops. There have been reports of technology glitches with the POS machines. Many of those who had Aadhaar cards could not avail ration due to biometric failures.

The next hearing is due on September 1.

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