The Delhi High Court has ruled that in exceptional circumstances, such as a habeas corpus case involving a missing person, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) can be directed to disclose the data of the missing person in a sealed cover.

This ruling underscores the urgency in such cases, where the missing individual may be in immediate danger. The court emphasized the need for swift action and directed the UIDAI to provide the relevant data without delay.

“… considering the urgency of the matter, and in order to safeguard the safety and security of an individual, UIDAI can also be directed by the high court dealing with the habeas corpus petition, in exceptional cases such as the present one, to disclose the data to the court in a sealed cover, even without being afforded a prior hearing,” a bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma said.

In the habeas corpus petition, the court noted that the right to privacy, as established in the Supreme Court’s K S Puttuswamy judgment, protects the personal information collected by UIDAI for Aadhaar cards. Despite the missing woman being absent for over five years, her Aadhaar data, including her most recent address and mobile number, was updated, as reported in the petition filed by her daughter seeking police assistance.

“The same (data) needs to be maintained with confidentiality and secrecy should be ensured by the UIDAI. Under normal circumstances the data given by any individual for preparing an Aadhaar card would be the personal data of the said individual and would be governed by the law of privacy. However, sometimes there are exceptions to this…,” the high court said.

The high court was considering a habeas corpus petition filed by a daughter requesting police to locate her mother, who has been missing since May 2019. Despite the woman’s prolonged absence, the court was informed that her Aadhaar data had been recently updated, reflecting her latest address and mobile number.

“The mother of the petitioner is currently not traceable despite repeated efforts made by the Delhi Police. The daughter has information that recently the Aadhaar card of the mother has been updated. Under such circumstances, in a habeas corpus writ petition when the Aadhaar card of the missing person may have been updated, the court dealing with such a petition would not be able to hear the person concerned who is the holder of Aadhaar card and is missing,” it said.

The Delhi Police, in their status report, indicated that they had been unable to locate the petitioner’s mother. The high court noted that the only available information was from the updated Aadhaar data, which included the woman's most recent address and mobile number. The court directed the police to use this information for their investigation and ordered them to file an updated status report on her whereabouts. This directive was issued in an order passed on July 30 and made available online on Wednesday.

“Let an updated status report be filed by the Delhi Police. If there is any updating or editing of information with regard to the Aadhaar card of the mother of the petitioner by the next date of hearing, the same shall also be provided in a sealed cover to the court, by the UIDAI, on the next date of hearing,” the bench said and listed the matter for further proceedings on August 20.

The court directed that the police should use the missing person’s Aadhaar data solely for the purpose of locating her and must maintain confidentiality throughout the process.