"It is a serious issue:" Supreme Court seeks response from Centre in plea alleging cancellation of 3 crore Aadhaar cards, starvation deaths

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Central government on a plea regarding cancellation of three crore Aadhaar cards across India leading to alleged denial of rations, and consequently, starvation deaths. (Koili Devi vs Union of India).Initially, the Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian was hesitant to entertain the plea, stating that the issue could be heard by respective High Courts..However, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner submitted that the Aadhaar cards were cancelled at the Central level.."More than 3 crore cards cancelled at the Central level. In every State, 10 to 15 lakh cards are cancelled. There are situations where fingerprints or iris scanner does not work in tribal areas," submitted Gonsalves. .The petitioner Koili Devi is the mother of the 11-year-old Santoshi Kumari who died on September 28, 2017, after allegedly starving for four days because her family was struck off the government welfare rolls for not linking their ration card with Aadhaar..Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aman Lekhi opposed the plea and stated that "it was all over the place."."There is grievance redressal under the Food Security Act. The plea is misconceived. If Aadhaar is not available alternative documents can be submitted. This point has not been argued. We have clearly said Aadhaar or no Aadhaar, it will not deny right to food," said Lekhi..After hearing the counsel, CJI Bobde noted that it "was a serious issue" and thus it would be listed for hearing after four weeks. ."The matter is too serious. We have to hear it. We expect you not to treat it as adversarial," CJI told the ASG. .In February last year, the Centre had denied allegations of starvation deaths in Jharkhand and arbitrary cancellation of nearly three crore ration cards of poor people across the country. .Attorney General KK Venugopal had to intervene when Gonsalves, appearing in a PIL, alleged starvation deaths following denial of food in the absence of Aadhaar card..Citing the response of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in Parliament, Gonslaves said that 2.33 crore ration cards have been cancelled to stop leakages..The Centre had referred to Section 40 of the Act that mandates every State government to have internal grievance redressal mechanism or nodal officers for effective and expeditious redressal of food grievance..The petitioner in an updated status report has stated that the response by Centre has been "casual" in the case. .Insistence on Aadhar and biometric authentification had led to the cancellation of nearly 4 crores ration cards in the country according to the Union of India. The Union of India casually gives an explanation that these cancelled cards were bogus. The real reason is that the technological system based on Iris identification, thumb prints, possession of Aadhar, functioning of the internet in rural and remote areas etc. led to large scale cancellation of ration cards without notice to the family concerned," reads the status report.