The Supreme Court’s decision to restrict the use of Aadhaar is a huge blow to India’s economic growth!

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to modify its order on the use of Aadhaar cards, following a plea by the central government. This decision will bring several social initiatives of the government to a screeching halt.

The apex court did not allow the wider use of Aadhaar and referred the matter to a wider constitutional bench. "Even though the court has not rejected the review applications, it is a major blow," according to a government official, who requested anonymity.

He further said that the order would definitely impact all existing linkages and new projects which were in the pipeline. “Work has stopped for now for Aadhaar," said the official.

In an interim order passed in August, the apex court had restricted the use of Aadhaar to just food and LPG subsidy, virtually making all other linkages illegal. The centre and four state governments, and five regulators including the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had filed review petitions, pointing out that banks, stock exchanges and telecom companies accept Aadhaar as proof of identity.

Hearing a batch of 11 review applications, a three-member Supreme Court bench, however, refused to immediately lift the restriction of Aadhaar.

Experts are of the view that usage of Aadhaar by state and private agencies would now come to a halt and many projects will be affected. "It could take months or even a year for some clarity to come on the issue," said an expert who did not wish to be identified.

To avoid contempt of court, many agencies have already issued directives to reconsider or halt their linkages with Aadhaar over the last one month.

The list includes:
1. The Election Commission which was seeding the entire country's voter identity cards to weed out fakes and duplicates,
2. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation that had linked the unique account number with Aadhaar,
3. The Ministry of Rural Development (MGNREGA funds were being disbursed through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts),
4. The Finance Ministry administering the Jan Dhan Yojana that was providing the overdraft facility to Aadhaar-linked accounts.

Many other schemes including DigiLocker, e-sign and Jeevan Praman, too, are linked to Aadhaar and are confused about its status after the apex court order. Unless the current order is modified, even the voluntary usage of Aadhaar for any other purpose except for LPG and food subsidy by citizens will be disputed.

Even though the options with the government are now limited, it is likely to approach the court on Thursday to request the constitutional bench to be formed at the earliest.

(Image: Indiatimes)