SC to hear Aadhaar-voter ID link PIL after verdict on pleas challenging Aadhaar

The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will hear a petition seeking linking of Aadhaar cards with voter identity cards and property documents after it verdict on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 12-digit unique identification number.

The plea, filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has sought a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take appropriate steps to implement an 'Aadhaar-based election-voting system' to ensure maximum participation in polls and curtail fake, bogus and duplicate voting in the spirit of section 17-18 of the Representation of People Act, 1950.

"We will list the petition for hearing after the Aadhaar judgment," a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said while hearing the plea which also claimed that the linking of Aadhaar with voter ID cards and property documents will help to prevent 'benami' transactions.

"The court will list it for hearing after it decides the constitutional validity of Aadhaar scheme and the law," the bench also comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.

The petition has asked for a direction to the Centre through the Ministry of Law and Justice to take appropriate steps to link movable and immovable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar number to curb corruption, black money generation and 'benami' transactions.

It has alleged that duplicate voting was prevalent in the country as the current system has not been able to control booth capturing and bogus voting.

"The current system is better but not the best. An Aadhaar-based election-voting system will have more authentication of voters and better security of the voting process. It can protect the voted data and most importantly, the voter can cast his vote from any corner of the country," it said.

The Aadhaar-based voting system would involve fingerprint of the voter which is saved in the government's Aadhaar database, the petition said.