The Centre has stated that Shamnad Basheer’s Delhi HC petition seeking damages due to Aadhaar data leaks is non-maintainable given that the Supreme Court has already passed its judgment on the Aadhaar matter. Basheer is the founder of SpicyIP and a lawyer. However, Basheer pointed out that the SC had specifically stated that it was not dealing with the issues raised in his petition. In the KS Puttaswamy judgment, the SC had noted that, "Section 43A of the IT Act attaches liability to a body corporate, which is possessing, handling and dealing with any 68A challenge to the Aadhaar project for violation of IT Act and Rules has been filed in the Delhi High Court in the matter of Shamnad Basheer v UIDAI and Ors. Therefore, we are not dealing with this aspect, nor does it arise for consideration in these proceedings.” Apart from claiming that the petition was non-maintainable, the Centre argued that the petition was misplaced and based on unverified reports. The Centre said: The petition is based on “unsubstantiated” alleged facts and “grossly misreported and interpolated” information relating to Aadhaar It denied allegations of any security breach of the UIDAI’s or the CIDR’s biometric database, stating that Basheer’s allegations that his privacy was impacted were based on press reports “without even verifying as to whether his data was at all compromised”. “It is strongly denied that any data breach has occurred in the CIDR or that the petitioner's right had been affected in any manner whatsoever,” the Centre’s affidavit said. Demanded…
