When Parliament has chosen to act, it has often done so with dubious intention. One example is that of introducing electoral bonds, to increase the transparency of political funding. That law makes it impossible to know the identity of the donor or the recipient negating transparency completely. The word “transparency” is used for this legislation almost in an Orwellian sense!One more recent example of Parliamentary action on the RPA is the amendment passed last month. This is the linkage of Aadhaar with the voter identity card issued by the EC. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 20 without any discussion. It was passed in the Rajya Sabha the next day with a voice vote, even when there was strong demand for recording the vote. The video of the voice vote clearly shows the resounding vocal opposition to the bill, but it was still passed. Be that as it may, the Aadhaar linkage is very problematic, for several reasons.Firstly, this amendment directly contradicts, at least prima facie, the Supreme Court judgement of 2018 which clearly said that Aadhaar is not mandatory for all citizens. Only for those receiving welfare benefits, and for a limited purpose only, can Aadhaar be made a requirement. That was a landmark judgment delivered in what was the second longest case ever heard by the Supreme Court.Secondly, Aadhaar is meant to be a proof of identity not of citizenship. It was never meant to be a proof of being a citizen and of the eligibility to vote. In fact, the construction of the voter roll is a critical responsibility of the Election Commission and cannot be outsourced to another agency outside its ambit.
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