The Madras High Court (HC) has ruled that access to Aadhaar update services is a fundamental right, and it emphasised that no resident should face unreasonable barriers when correcting their identity details.
The ruling, delivered by Justice G.R. Swaminathan, arose from the petition of 74-year-old widow P. Pushpam, who initially discovered that errors in her Aadhaar card were blocking the transfer of her late husband’s army pension.
The petitioner first approached the local E-Sevai Maiyam in Paramakudi, Tamil Nadu to correct her Aadhaar details and was then directed to the local post office. When those efforts failed, she sent a representation to the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) Regional Centre in Bengaluru, but received no response. Consequently, she invoked the jurisdiction of the Madras HC under Article 226.
During the hearing, members of the Bar pointed out that Madurai houses the only Aadhaar Seva Kendra serving the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, and while changes to address and phone numbers are possible at the local level, changes to name and date of birth can only be made at the Seva Kendra. Notably, the court recorded long queues and access difficulties at that centre.
Subsequently, the Madras HC found that Aadhaar has become indispensable for welfare delivery and, therefore, the right to correct demographic details under Section 31 of the Aadhaar Act acquires the character of a fundamental right. Justice Swaminathan accordingly ordered UIDAI to update Pushpam’s details upon her appearance, and instructed the Defence Accounts office to release her pension without delay.
Fundamental Right To Access Aadhaar Services
In its order, the Madras HC clarified that the right to update or correct information in an Aadhaar card forms part of citizens’ fundamental rights. Justice Swaminathan held that “every Aadhaar number holder has the fundamental right to obtain the services set out in the Aadhaar regime,” and that this includes the ability to alter demographic or biometric information under Section 31 of the Aadhaar Act.
The court reasoned that when the law grants a statutory right, it also implies a corresponding obligation on the authorities to make that right accessible. Citing a legal maxim which sets out that “when the law gives anything to anyone, it gives tacitly all that is incident to it”, Justice Swaminathan said that UIDAI must ensure adequate facilities to update Aadhaar card details of such card holders.
“Duty to carry out the alteration in the Aadhaar Card carries with it the obligation to engage in capacity building so that every card holder has easy access to the services provided by the Authority,” he further wrote.
Additionally, the court drew on the Supreme Court’s (SC) 2019 judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, noting that the right to receive welfare benefits has attained the status of a fundamental right.
Therefore, it held…
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