Delhi High Court stays order making Aadhaar biometric attendance mandatory for public prosecutors

The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the Delhi government's order making Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance compulsory for public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors and assistant public prosecutors.

Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order after the Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association filed a petition against the order.

The case will be heard next in December.

The petition was filed challenging an October 5 order issued by the Director of Prosecution, requiring all prosecuting officers to register on and mark daily attendance through the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) from October 12.

It was argued that the directive violates the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution and is arbitrary under Article 14. It has also been alleged that the order violates provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

As per the plea,

"Prosecuting Officers are officers of the Court appointed under Sections 18 and 19 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; their work is in the courtroom, and their presence is recorded daily in the judicial order sheets."

The plea said that the association had earlier challenged the attendance circulars before the High Court. On August 17, the Court directed the authorities to treat the petition as a representation and decide it within four weeks after granting a personal hearing, while allowing the association to approach the Court again if it remained aggrieved.

However, the hearing took place only on September 15, after the stipulated four-week period had expired.

The association further contended that the Home Department rejected its representation through minutes dated September 30 without recording reasons or addressing its members' objection to Aadhaar authentication.

Senior Advocates N Hariharan, Ashish Mohan and Sachhin Puri along with advocates Kushal Kumar, Aditya Kapoor, Rishabh Saxena and Harsh Ahuja appeared for the prosecutors association.