SC disagrees with Centres view, says Aadhaar won't curb banking frauds

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The Centre's argument that Aadhaar would help curb ills like terrorism and banking frauds on Thursday did not find favour with the Supreme Court, which said the bank officials were "hand-in-glove" with fraudsters and scams do not happen because the culprits are unknown.

The top court also questioned the government for asking the entire population to link their mobile phones with Aadhaar "just to catch a few terrorists" and asked what would happen if the authorities, through administrative orders, ask the citizens to part with their DNA, semen and blood samples as part of their Aadhaar demographics.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar and its enabling 2016 law, prima facie disagreed with the submission and said Aadhaar was "not the solution" to banking frauds.

"There is no doubt about the identity of fraudsters. The bank knows whom it is giving loan and it is the bank officials who are hand-in-glove with the fraudsters. Aadhaar can do little to stop it," the bench, which also comprised justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said.

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