New Delhi, June 16 (HS): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre, states and Union Territories on a plea seeking to restrict the use of Aadhaar solely as a proof of identity and not as proof of citizenship, domicile, residence or date of birth.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana issued notices on the petition and tagged it with similar pending matters.

The petition, filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay through counsel Ashwani Dubey, contended that Aadhaar is being used for purposes beyond its intended scope despite provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

The plea sought directions to the Centre, states and the Election Commission to ensure that Aadhaar is used only as proof of identity and not as evidence of citizenship, domicile, address or date of birth.

Referring to Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, the petition stated that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship or domicile. It also cited a notification issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in August 2023, which clarified that Aadhaar serves as proof of identity and not of citizenship, address or date of birth.

The petitioner alleged that Aadhaar is being accepted as proof of age and residence for various purposes, including voter registration and issuance of official documents, contrary to the intent of the law.

The Supreme Court has sought responses from the concerned authorities before taking up further hearing in the matter.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar