Delhi High Court upholds suspension of circulars mandating Aadhaar for EWS admissions in private schools

The Delhi High Court recently upheld the suspension of Delhi government circulars which mandate Aadhaar for admission to private unaided schools in the city under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Disadvantaged Group (DG) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN) categories [Govt of NCT of Delhi v Sashank Yadav]..A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula noted that obtaining sensitive personal details of a child has the potential to infringe their right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.The Court relied on the Supreme Court’s judgment in the KS Puttaswamy case and said that the government’s circulars were prima facie in conflict with the constitutional provisions.The division bench of the Court, therefore, refused to interfere with the order passed by single-judge, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani who had earlier stayed the operation of these circulars.“In the opinion of the Court, the view taken by learned Single Judge is completely in consonance with the judgment of Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy (Supra), relevant portions whereof has been extracted in the impugned order. The issue of obtaining sensitive personal details of a child, as observed in KS Puttaswamy case, would have the potential of infringing their right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 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 learned Single Judge,” the Court said.The Court also noted that the single-judge is yet to take a final view on the matter. Therefore, it opined that there was no merit in the government's appeal in the case and dismissed the same..In his order dated July 27, 2023, Justice Bhambhani had stayed the operation of the circulars dated July 12, 2022 and February 2, 2023.The plea challenging the circulars was filed by the father of a five-year-old child.The single-judge said that a child cannot be compelled to hold an Aadhaar card and cannot be denied any subsidy or benefit if they fail to establish identity by furnishing their Aadhaar. .The Delhi government challenged this order on the ground that the single judge had failed to adequately understand the intent and objectives behind the contested circulars and that the requirement for an Aadhaar card or Aadhaar number serves a practical purpose as it aims to eliminate duplicate applications.It was a policy initiative designed to modernize the admission process for EWS/DG category in entry-level classes in private, unaided, recognized schools, the government contended. It added that mandating Aadhaar under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 did not violate the child’s right to free and compulsory education. Rather, it serves as a safeguard against fraudulent applications and admissions based on false identities, the government said. The government further asserted that it has no intention of compromising the privacy or security of applicants and that it is not accessing the Aadhaar database directly. Therefore, there is no infringement of the right to privacy, the government stated.The division bench, however, declined to intervene and dismissed the appeal. .Standing Counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi along with advocates Arun Panwar, Pradyumn Rao, Utkarsh Singh, Kartik Sharma, Prashansha Sharma and Rishabh Srivastava represented the Delhi government.Advocates Ayush Agarwala and Auritro Mukherjee appeared for the father of the child..[Read Order]