The
Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with an order that has suspended the
enforcement of the city government's decision that a child's Aadhaar card would
have to be mandatorily furnished for his admission to a private unaided
recognised school under any of the three categories of economically weaker
section (EWS), disadvantaged group (DG) and children with special needs (CWSN).
A
bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed an appeal filed
by the Delhi government against the interim order of a single-judge bench, and
said the requirement is prima facie in conflict with the constitutional
provisions pertaining to privacy.
"The
issue of obtaining sensitive personal details of a child, as observed in the K
S Puttaswamy case (by the Supreme Court), would have the potential of
infringing their right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of
India," the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula, said in an
order passed last week.
It
noted that the top court has asserted that making submission of Aadhaar
mandatory would contravene the fundamental rights safeguarded by Article 21 and
any such limitation cannot be constitutionally justified.
"It
would thus suffice to state that the impugned circulars are prima facie in
conflict with the constitutional provisions, effect whereof has rightly been
stayed by the learned single judge," the court concluded.
The
order of the single judge was passed on a petition filed by a man who had
alleged that his five-year-old child was unable to participate in the
computerised lottery scheme for allocation of seats in schools for the 2023
academic year as he did not have an Aadhaar card.
The
Delhi government, through circulars issued on July 12, 2022 and February 2,
2023, mandated the requirement of an Aadhaar card or number for admission to
private unaided recognised schools in the national capital under the EWS, DG,
CWSN categories.
The
court noted that the single judge is yet to take a final view on the petition
and there is no merit in the appeal.
"Dismissed,
along with other pending applications," it ruled.
In
appeal against the single judge's order passed on July 27, the Delhi
government's standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi argued that the judge
failed to adequately understand the intent and objectives behind the circulars.
He
said the requirement for an Aadhaar card served a practical purpose and aimed
at eliminating duplicate applications and was a policy initiative designed to
modernise the admission process for the EWS and DG categories in entry-level
classes in private, unaided, recognised schools.
It
was also argued that mandating an Aadhaar card did not violate a child's right
to free and compulsory education, rather it served as a safeguard against
fraudulent applications and admissions based on false identities.
The government counsel also clarified that the authorities have no
intention of compromising the privacy or security of the candidates.