The Kerala High Court said on Wednesday that Digi Yatra should prima facie not require Aadhaar details at registration if a passenger can establish identity through another valid government-issued ID, Bar and Bench reported. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM adjourned the matter for two weeks. It directed Digi Yatra’s counsel to tell the Court whether any other identity proof would suffice.
What did the Court say?
- Aadhaar may not be necessary if another valid government-issued ID is available. “We are prima facie of the view that Aadhaar details may not be necessary while registering on Digi Yatra if the petitioner has any other identity proof to establish his identity,” the Court said in its order.
- The Chief Justice cited the Puttaswamy judgment. “As per Puttaswamy, this cannot be compulsory. You cannot insist on this,” Chief Justice Sen said orally, referring to the Supreme Court’s 2018 Aadhaar judgment, which struck down the provision that let private companies demand Aadhaar for identity verification.
- Voluntariness did not answer the question. Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan, appearing for the Union government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), submitted that Digi Yatra is voluntary and that nobody compels passengers to use it. The Bench said that even if the platform is not mandatory, it may not be proper to compel users to disclose Aadhaar details to register on it.
- The ASG said the data remains with Digi Yatra. He told the Court that biometric and identity-related details remain only with Digi Yatra, and that the system deletes them once the passenger completes the journey, LiveLaw reported.
- The Court declined to permit the petitioner to withdraw the PIL. Counsel for petitioner CR Neelakandan, a social activist and advocate, told the Bench his client wished to withdraw the PIL due to health concerns. The Bench refused, because he had filed the petition in public interest.
What does this actually change?
- Does this stop biometric processing? No. The Court asked whether another identity proof would suffice to register. Digi Yatra runs on facial recognition, and Aadhaar is one onboarding route into it. A finding that Digi Yatra cannot insist on Aadhaar would change what information a passenger provides during registration, not whether the system captures and processes their face afterwards.
- Is there an alternative to Aadhaar already? DYF has tested enrolment through electronic passports on the Bengaluru-Doha route, which it described as extending beyond Aadhaar-based onboarding. The alternative the Court asked about already exists in pilot trials.
- Why didn’t “it’s voluntary” answer the question? Because the objection targets Aadhaar, not Digi Yatra. In its 2018 Aadhaar judgment, the Supreme Court held that private companies cannot demand Aadhaar for identity verification, and that anyone asking for it must have a law behind…
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