Supreme Court notice to govt on Aadhaar for Covid-19 vaccination

A bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre on a petition claiming that apart from seven identity documents mentioned in the CoWIN portal, Aadhaar was still being insisted upon.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the central government on public interest litigation (PIL), which claimed that the Aadhaar card was being mandatorily insisted upon for administering vaccination against Covid-19.

The Supreme Court bench issued notice to the Union government and the Unique Identification Authority of India.  (PTI PHOTO.)

A bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by Pune-based lawyer Sidharthshankar Sharma, claiming that apart from seven identity documents mentioned in the CoWIN portal, Aadhaar was still being insisted upon.

Initially, the bench was not inclined to entertain the petition as it was under the impression that other photo identity documents such as PAN card, drivers’ licence, Voter I-card or passport could be valid documents to register for Covid-19 vaccination.

However, advocate Mayank Kshirsagar, appearing for the petitioner, told the court: “There are seven documents listed on CoWIN app for registration. But when you go to the vaccination centre, they insist on Aadhaar without which they do not allow vaccination. All policies are there on paper, but people are facing problems.”

Hearing the arguments, the bench issued notice to the Union government and the Unique Identification Authority of India.