Both the Houses of parliament have passed the `THE ELECTION AMENDMENT LAW`S 2021` which seeks to link voter ID card to Aadhar. The house passed the bill in a voice vote in both the houses.
The Bill seeks to provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act 1950 and Representation of Peoples Act 1951 to introduce additional qualification data for voting, making voting for service votes gender-neutral and linking of Aadhar with the electoral rolls.
The bill includes a clause as follows:
`No application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhar number due to such sufficient causes may be prescribed provided such that individual may be allowed to furnish such other alternate documents as may be prescribed`
Linking electoral roll data with Aadhar:
The 1950 act provides that a person may apply to the electoral registration officer for inclusion of thier name in electoral roll of a constituency. After verification if the officer is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to registration he will direct the applicant name to be included in the electoral roll. The bill adds that the electoral registration officer may require a person to furnish their Aadhar number for establishing thier identity. If thier name is already in the electoral role, then the Aadhar number may be required for Authentication of entries in the roll. If they are unable to furnish Aadhar number due to sufficient cause, such persons may be permitted to furnish alternate documents prescribed by the central govt.
Why it violates the puttaswamy vs Union Govt of India judgement:\
On 24th Aug 2017 a 9 judges bench of the supreme court in justice`puttaswamy vs Union Govt of India` case passed a historic judgment of affirming the constitutional right to privacy. It declared that privacy to be an integral component of part 3 of the constitution of India, which lays down out fundamental Rights, ranging from Rights relating Right to Equality (Article 14 to 18),freedom of speech and expression (Article 19 (1) (a), freedom of movement Article 19 (1)(d),protection of life and personal liberty,Article 21 and others.
Govt of India is saying that these laws is being considered for stopping of `Bogus voting` and to provide free and fair elections, and the bill says tha Aadhar linking is not mandatory.
But at this scenario the right to privacy judgment is being compromised. So the Govt of India instead of taking the bill in consideration for passing without debate, their must be debate on this and the bill should be sent to the committee for reviewing.
If the Govt wants the electoral reforms should be done , it must consider the electoral bonds issue first
Electoral bonds:
Introduced with the finance bill (2017) electoral bonds allow the donors to pay political parties with the banks as mandatory in the name of donation. These bonds can only be issued by the state bank of India. The range is 1000- 1 Crore.
The Govt of India must show in public about how much donation was given to political parties in the form of electoral bonds, which will be big step towards the `electoral reforms.`
Reference: livelaw.in, an analysis of puttaswamy judgement of supreme court.