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In order to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act 2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 & Indian Telegraph Act 1885, the President has promulgated Aadhaar and other laws(Amendment) Ordinance 2019.
The amendments proposed and those contained in the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on 4th January 2019 are the same. On September 26, the Constitution Bench of the SC by 4:1 majority in the judgment delivered had upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act, with certain limitations and changes. The SC prohibited the compulsory use of Aadhaar based KYC for mobile connections and bank accounts.
It was also proposed to amend the Aadhaar Act, Indian Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in line with the Supreme Court directives and the report of Justice B.N.Srikrishna (Retd.) committee on data protection to ensure that personal data of Aadhaar holder remains safe against any misuse and Aadhaar scheme remains in conformity with the Constitution.
The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 passed by the Lok Sabha on 4th January 2019 lapsed as it could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The Ordinance clarifies that no child should be denied any benefit or subsidy for want of Aadhaar. It amends the Aadhaar Act 2016 to enrol children to the scheme with the consent of their parents or guardian. A child can have an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining majority. The Government was directed to bring in these changes.
It also provides for voluntary use of Aadhaar for taking mobile connections and opening bank accounts and lay down the procedure for offline verification of an Aadhaar number holder to establish an identity without authentication using biometric data or other electronic means.
It changes the definition of 'aadhaar number' to include 'virtual ID', in addition to the 12 digit number to authenticate identity without providing aadhaar number.
The authority to issue orders to disclose Aadhaar information is proposed to be changed as 'High Court judge' from 'District Judge' under Section 33(1). The SC had read down Section 33(1) to include the right of hearing for the Aadhaar number-holder.
The authority competent to issue orders of disclosure of Aadhaar information in the interests of national security is proposed to be changed as "Secretary" from "Joint Secretary" under Section 33(2).
The failure in authentication of Aadhaar number due to old age, sickness, or technical reasons should not result in denial of any service and alternative measures to verify identity should be used in such cases.
The changes entail a civil penalty of up to Rs 1 crore on entities that violate the provisions of the Aadhaar Act.
The TDSAT and the SC are made the appellate authorities. Section 47 is sought to be amended to authorise the Court is to take cognizance on the complaint made by the holder of Aadhaar number, who is the victim of offences committed under the Act. The ordinance will omit Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to the use of Aadhaar by private entities.
The changes came through amendments in Aadhaar Act, the Indian Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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