Parliament Watch: UIDAI says no cases of Aadhaar misuse; 498 Constitution Bench matters pending before SC

On Friday, questions in Parliament were answered on themes ranging from the abuse of Aadhaar IDs to undertrials in foreign nations.

Karnataka MP Dr K Narayan asked in the Rajya Sabha whether the present legislation for preventing Aadhaar identity theft was strong enough, and whether the government has proposed further legislation for the same. He also sought to know the number of reported cases of Aadhaar ID misuse in Karnataka and the country.

Notably, the reply stated that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) found no cases of misuse of Aadhaar.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 ensures that identity information is secured and protected against access. Further, it said that the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDPB) aimed at the digital personal data protection is under consideration.

On a question by Tamil Nadu MP S Ramalingam in the Lok Sabha, the Law Ministry revealed the number of people that have availed of the Tele-Law programme launched in 2017.

The programme provides an e-interface platform connecting the needy and disadvantaged seeking legal advice and consultation with panel lawyers via video conferencing, telephone and chat facilities available at Common Service Centres (CSCs) situated in gram panchayats and through the Tele-Law mobile App.

This service is free of cost and is currently operational in 1,000,00 gram panchayats across 755 districts, including 112 aspirational districts, in 36 States and UTs.

The details of legal advice so rendered as on November 30, 2022 are tabulated below:

The reply further states,

"Pro Bono Panel of advocates have been initiated in 21 High Courts at the State level. Pro Bono Clubs have been started in 69 select Laws Schools to instill Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers."

Telangana Lok Sabha MP Arvind Dharmapuri sought to know details of Indian undertrials and convicts in foreign nations according to their domicile, gender and offence committed.

The Ministry of External Affairs explained that strict privacy rules in many countries mandate that local authorities will not exchange information about convicts unless the person involved consents to disclosure.

A total of 10,640 Indians overseas are either awaiting trial or have been convicted.

In 53 countries, 1,297 Indians are undertrials. In 62 countries, 3,580 are convicts.

Data from five countries on undertrials and convicts is not available separately, the reply stated.

In Greece, Nepal, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, there are 22, 1,222, 40, 1,858, and 261 Indians imprisoned, respectively.

Uttar Pradesh MP Ashok Kumar Rawat sought to know in the Lok Sabha details of cases pending in the Supreme Court and High Courts across various categories.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's reply revealed that as per NJDG (National Judicial Data Grid), as of December 13, 2022, 498 Constitution Bench matters are pending before the Supreme Court.

4,331 Special Leave Petitions (SLPs), 2,870 Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and 2,209 writ petitions and 1,295 contempt petitions are pending before the apex court.

The details of cases across various categories are tabulated below:

84,981 SLPs, 3,098 PILs and 5,240 writ petitions have been disposed of by the Supreme Court of India since 2019.

The details of cases across various categories are tabulated below:

As of December 14, 2022, there were 959 election petitions, 16,42,371 writ petitions, 10,063 PILs and 28,469 contempt petitions pending across High Courts.

Since 2019, the High Courts have disposed of 2,517 labour petitions, 9,451 election petitions, 1,11,92,733 writ petitions, 45,349 PILs and 10,489 contempt petitions.