A practising advocate has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against the mandatory requirement of furnishing Aadhaar details to avail of benefits under the Chief Minister Advocates’ Welfare Scheme (CMAWS).
The petition was listed on Monday before a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula who asked the petitioner’s counsel to seek further instructions in the matter and listed it for further hearing on July 20.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that in the “absence of any valid data protection law”, the petitioner did not want to submit his Aadhaar card. The counsel submitted that the petitioner had already been registered under the scheme and was willing to furnish any other document such as a driver’s license, passport etc as identity proof.
The plea states that there was “no legitimate requirement” of seeking Aadhaar details for re-registering for the CMAWS when the petitioner, a practising advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi and an elector here, was otherwise eligible for the benefit under the scheme.
As per the web portal, the Delhi government “in recognition of the role being played by advocates in the society and the legal profession in particular” announced the scheme which was approved by a cabinet decision on December 18, 2019.
The scheme provides group (term) life insurance, with a life cover of Rs 10 lakh and group mediclaim coverage for advocates, their spouse and two dependent children up to the age of 25 years, for a family floater sum assured of Rs 5 lakh. To be eligible for the benefits under the scheme, the applicant has to be a “practising advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi” and an “elector of GNCT of Delhi”, the standard operating procedure issued on March 9 states.
The plea states, “Aadhaar number does not help the respondent to ascertain the eligibility of an advocate for CMAWS. As far as the identity of the petitioner is concerned, the Bar Card, the CoP (Certificate of Practice) and the EPIC (Election Photo Identity Card) establish his identity beyond any doubt. Notwithstanding all the aforementioned reasons, respondent has made Aadhaar mandatory for registration/re-registration for CMAWS.”
It further states making Aadhaar mandatory for registration under CMAWS “has no reasonable nexus or causal connection with the objects sought to be achieved by CMAWS, i.e. providing life/health cover to practicing advocates of Delhi” adding that compelling the petitioner to provide his Aadhaar number for registration violates his right to privacy.
The plea said the petitioner tried to re-register himself for CMAWS in March but the portal did not let him do so unless he first provided his Aadhaar number.
