PIL in Supreme Court Seeks Age Cap on Aadhaar and Stricter Adult Checks

Overview

• Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed the public interest plea on Thursday, asking the court to limit new Aadhaar issuance to children up to six years.
• The petition proposes that adolescents and adults apply through stricter procedures handled by local magistrates such as Sub-Divisional Magistrates or Tehsildars.
• The plea also asks for clear display boards at enrolment points stating Aadhaar proves identity only, not citizenship, address, or date of birth, along with warnings on penalties and applicant undertakings on truthful documents.
• The petitioner cites UIDAI data of 144 crore numbers and about 99% coverage to argue that routine enrolment should be confined to newborns, and points to a legal gap between the Act’s ‘resident’ standard and UIDAI’s separate categories for foreigners and nationals.
• The filing alleges that people posing as citizens can get Aadhaar and then secure ration cards, domicile and driving licences, posing risks to welfare targeting and electoral rolls; the Supreme Court has not heard or ruled on the plea yet.