By Vidyut A 5 judge Constitution bench began hearing the arguments to decide the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar project today, almost seven years since the first challenges to the Aadhaar project. The long standing case had been delayed when the Attorney General had argued in 2015 that the citizens have no fundamental right in India to privacy and the matter was finally resolved when the 9-judge Constitution Bench delivered a historic and unanimous judgement asserting that the right to privacy was indeed a fundamental right last November. Now, a five-judge Constitution Bench, comprising the CJI Dipak Misra and Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AK Sikri, Justice AM Khanwilkar, and Justice Ashok Bhushan, begins hearings on the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar project. Advocate Shyam Divan began with pointing out "No democratic society has adopted a programme that is similar in its command and sweep. There are few judicial precedents to guide us. The closest foreign cases have all been decided in favour of the citizen, repelling the invasive programme by the State." He went on state that the petitioners were challenging the biometric technology and the Aadhaar act based on materials that discredit the government claims and said that if the Aadhaar Act and programme were allowed ot operate unimpeded, they would "hollow out the Constitution, particularly the great rights and liberties it assures to citizens. A People’s Constitution will transform into a State Constitution." Advocate Divan raised the question whether the Constitution of India allows this "giant electronic mesh" and described the government's employment of marketing strategems and…
