This is a record of the proceedings in the Supreme Court bench hearings on the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, which began on Feb 13, 2018. You may read the previous days' proceedings here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16., Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 2, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27 and Day 28. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi resumed his submissions. He said it's better to tighten the nuts and bolts of Aadhaar rather than demolishing it completely. He talked about the presumption of constitutionality, and how courts should first make small repairs if they find that laws are defective, instead of striking it down. Dwivedi cites Section 8 of the Aadhaar Act. He said information is strictly confined to the purpose of authentication. Interplay of section 8 and 29 say that core biometrics are not shared. He said that in order to avoid even the possibility of surveillance, the Court can give a narrow interpretation to Section 29, and limit sharing of information. In response of Justice Chandrachud's questions about ensuring security at the back end, Dwivedi said that this can be done through technical specifications and through professional audits. Justice Chandrachud pointed to Sections 8(2), 8(3) and 29. 8(2) saying that the requesting entity shall obtain the consent of the individual before collecting identity information for the purposes of authentication. Then, it can be submitted for authentication to CIDR. Dwivedi…
