Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 11: High Court today closed petition on Adhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) as similar petition is pending before the Supreme Court.
Advocate Syed Musaib Ahmad had filed the PIL submitting that Adhaar Scheme infringes the Right of Privacy and the same is subject matter of five Judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court. Such impugned Government order undermines and prejudices the case in hand before the Supreme Court as well.
After hearing petitioner counsel and state counsel the Division Bench of Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey closed the PIL with the direction to the authorities that they can use (AEBAS) in Government Officers for punctuality of employees and the same would be subject to outcome of Supreme Court direction.
Earlier the court had stayed the entire order but clarified the stay order with the direction that same shall remain in force for making the Adhaar Cards mandatory only and stay was lifted so far as the (AEBAS) for attendance of Government employees which the court said, can be installed in Government offices.
Court has been informed that the Supreme Court has already held possession of Adhaar is not mandatory the issue is still pending before the three judge bench of Supreme Court as the matter is yet to be finally decided.
State Government had issued an order no. 35-F of 2016 dated 10.2.2016 wherein possession of Adhaar Card was made mandatory for almost all sections of the people including employees, pensioners, Public Sector Unit Holders etc, while as Supreme Court in its interim order on October 2015, observed that Adhaar Card is ‘purely voluntary’ and not mandatory and it cannot be made mandatory till the matter is decided by the Supreme Court one way or the other.
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