Delhi High Court: In a writ petition filed by a daughter under Article 226 of the Constitution read with Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNSS’) to seek a writ of habeas corpus for directing the State to produce her mother who was missing since 15-05-2019, a Division Bench of Pratibha M. Singh* and Amit Sharma, JJ. directed the Delhi Police to file an updated status report regarding the whereabouts of the petitioner’s mother as per the updated details on her Aadhaar card and held that the Unique Identification Authority of India (‘UIDAI’) can be directed to disclose the data of an individual in a sealed cover, even without being afforded a prior hearing in exceptional cases such as the present one.
The Court, vide orders dated 11-07-2024 and 23-07-2024, had directed the officials concerned of UIDAI to file a status report regarding any information on the petitioner’s mother along with her Aadhaar card including the address.
The officials handed over the contact details of the missing lady that were available with them in a sealed cover to the Court. The Court stated that the four different printouts shown were of data updated on 11-08-2011, 26-04-2016, 21-02-2024, and 09-07-2024.
The UIDAI officials who had appeared before the Court asserted that the Aadhaar data had to be strictly secured and could not be released without the consent of the individual concerned. Reliance was placed on Sections 28 and 33 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (‘Aadhaar Act’).
The Court said that a perusal of Section 28 read with Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act would reveal that under Section 33(1) proviso, disclosure of information is permissible in accordance with the order of the High Court.
Further, the Court noted that in the affidavit filed by UIDAI on 22-07-2024, reliance was placed on K.S. Puttuswamy v. Union of India, 2019 1 SCC 1 to argue that the privacy rights need to be protected and that UIDAI would have to be heard before an order was passed.
The Court stated that in terms of the decision in the above-mentioned case, it was a settled proposition that the data provided to UIDAI while making an Aadhaar card is private and the same needs to be maintained with confidentiality and would be governed by the law of privacy. However, the Court stated that sometimes there are exceptions to this such as the present matter wherein the petitioner was seeking a writ of habeas corpus for the production of her mother.
It was stated that the mother of the petitioner could not be traced despite repeated efforts made by the Delhi Police and the petitioner had information that recently her mother’s Aadhaar card had been updated.
The Court said that considering the urgency of the matter and to safeguard the safety and security of an individual, UIDAI may be directed by the High Court dealing with the habeas corpus petition, in exceptional cases such as the present one, to disclose data to the Court in a sealed cover even without being afforded a prior hearing.
The Court said that in a habeas corpus writ petition, there is a sense of urgency with which the Court has to act as the missing person could be in danger, and under such circumstances, UIDAI can be directed to provide the data.
The Court noted that the status report dated 30-07-2024 that had been handed over by the police in Court showed that there was no trace of the mother and thus, the only available information was on the basis of the updated Aadhaar card information.
The Court directed the Delhi Police to carry out the investigation and file an updated status report regarding the whereabouts of the mother of the petitioner as per the latest Aadhaar card details that had been provided to them by the Court.
Further, UIDAI was directed to provide details in a sealed cover to the Court in case the Aadhaar card of the mother of the petitioner was updated or edited by the next date of hearing. The Court also stated that the information provided may also be maintained in a sealed cover by the Registry and be sent to Court on the next date of hearing.
The case has been listed on 20-08-2024.
[Vandana v. State, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 5178, Decided on 30-07-2024]
Judgment authored by Justice Pratibha M. Singh
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner — Advocate Dinesh Malik, Advocate Puneet Jain, Advocate Kiffi Aggarwal
For Respondent — SC Sanjay Lao, Advocate Sushil Raaja
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