New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to respond to a petition challenging its decision to make biometric Aadhaar authentication mandatory for domestic LPG consumers to book refills at the regulated retail selling price with applicable subsidy from October 1.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma issued notice to the central government, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board and public sector oil companies on the public interest litigation (PIL) by Pulkit Luthra, a practising lawyer, and gave them two weeks to file the reply. The petitioner, who has 75 per cent permanent visual disability, has asserted that a mandatory biometric Aadhaar authentication (BAA) process, which included iris authentication, caused serious difficulty to him and other similarly situated persons with visual impairments.
Attorney General R Venkataramani said the decision was taken to check the “abuse” of government subsidy and assured that persons with disabilities would be taken care of.
“There is no data. He just flung a petition like this. I can understand that the disabled section of the community needs certain accommodation. There was a complete abuse of the subsidy given under the schemes. Therefore the government wanted to fund out. Disabled section will be taken care of,” the top law officer said.
Senior advocate Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the government’s decision was contrary to the law and the Supreme Court’s judgement on Aadhaar.
Emphasising that the “LPG supply has stopped” under the earlier regime since October 1, he urged the court to consider the issue of interim relief in the matter on the next date of hearing.
The court listed the matter for hearing on November 18.
The PIL has assailed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG)’s September 17 letter to IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, and a September 19 press release contemplating blocking of LPG refills of consumers who have not completed BAA, and in the case of consumers who are “unwilling or unable” to authenticate, restricting access to LPG at the market price in 5 kg or 10 kg cylinders, subject to availability.
The mandate, the PIL claimed, affects 3.16 crore consumers.
The plea has contended that the mandate lacks adequate statutory backing as it travels beyond the permissible scope of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and is arbitrary, disproportionate and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
The plea has stated that the framework fails to adequately address cases where a consumer is genuinely unable to complete biometric authentication for reasons beyond his or her control, such as in the case of elderly persons, persons with disabilities and persons experiencing age-related or other physical limitations.
“The supply of 14.2 kg cylinder would be stopped to such consumers simply for the reason that they are unwilling or unable to undergo BAA. The cost suffered by these 3.16 crore consumers for exercising their choice or being unable to authenticate their biometrics through Aadhaar would be that the supply of the 14.2 kg cylinder would be stopped to such consumers and they would be forced to purchase the five kg or 10 kg cylinder at the market selling price,” the petition has said.
Under the Aadhaar regime, an individual who cannot provide an iris scan or fingerprint is covered under the Biometric Exception Enrolment Guidelines.
The guidelines state that an eligible person can provide either fingerprints or iris scan, and if neither can be submitted, the supervisor of the Aadhaar enrolment centre can validate such Aadhaar enrolment as an exception after taking other details.
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