Supreme Court notice to govt on Aadhaar for Covid-19 vaccination

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the central government on public interest litigation (PIL), which claimed that the Aadhaar card was being mandatorily insisted upon for administering vaccination against Covid-19.

A bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by Pune-based lawyer Sidharthshankar Sharma, claiming that apart from seven identity documents mentioned in the CoWIN portal, Aadhaar was still being insisted upon.

Initially, the bench was not inclined to entertain the petition as it was under the impression that other photo identity documents such as PAN card, drivers’ licence, Voter I-card or passport could be valid documents to register for Covid-19 vaccination.