200 px

200 px (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

TNN | Feb 9, 2013, 07.21 AM IST

 

 

 

BANGALORE: The Karnataka high court on Friday admitted a regular first appeal (RFA) on the Aadhaar issue. The petition is against the dismissal of a suit by a city civil court in Bangalore wherein Aadhaar, the mega UID project of the central government, was sought to be declared as illegal.

 

 

Justice Jawad Rahim admitted the RFA filed by VK Somashekar, a social activist, and ordered notice to the chairperson of Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) and the chairperson of the Planning Commission of India in addition to Mathew Thomas, a missile scientist and a co-plaintiff in the suit.

 

 

The appellant has challenged the July 3, 2012 verdict of the XVI additional city civil and sessions court dismissing their suit by imposing a cost of Rs 25,000 each.

 

 

On July 3, the lower court had dismissed the plea terming it as not maintainable and asked the plaintiffs to pay the cost to the central government.

 

 

“Aadhaar is essential to Indian citizens for their welfare and also for security reasons in order to safeguard our citizens from terrorists and for identifying terrorists. Further, it is not compulsory. The government of India and government of Karnataka are there to look after the genuine utilization of the tax money for the welfare of the society,” the civil court had observed in its judgment.

 

 

The plaintiffs have contended that the scheme was designed for the benefit of a few private companies and without any serious study. “There are complaints of large-scale violations. Aadhaar scheme has been illegally designed without any semblance of a statutory right,” the petitioners had claimed.