SC to refer to privacy verdict before hearing plea about legality of passing Aadhar as money bill

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would first go through the crucial judgement on privacy before taking a call on Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s challenge to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to certify a bill to amend the Aadhaar law as a money bill.

The plea was mentioned before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices P C Pant and D Y Chandrachud for an early hearing, but the apex court said it would first peruse the judgement delivered by its nine-judge constitution bench declaring the right to privacy a fundamental right. “You mention it on Friday (September 1). We will also read the judgement,” CJI Misra said. The apex court had in February observed that it was “tentatively not convinced” with the grounds taken by Ramesh to challenge the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to certify the bill to amend Aadhaar law as a money bill.

Observing that the issue was “important and serious” and it did not want to take a call on it in haste, the court had told the counsel appearing for Ramesh to prepare his case by taking into account all the objections raised by the Centre. The Centre had opposed the plea saying that …read more