ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It would be apposite to commence by extracting the prayer clause of this Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which is as under:

(2.) The petitioner himself being a practicing advocate of this court has been prosecuting this petition in person. Originally, this writ petition was filed impleading only two parties, namely the Union of India and the Government of NCT of Delhi. Subsequently, before different coordinate benches, five more parties were added culminating into the amended memo of parties filed with index dtd. 19/4/2023. Counter-affidavit was filed on behalf of only the respondent no.3 namely Unique Identification Authority of India. The respondent no.2 namely Government of NCT of Delhi filed a short affidavit. None of the remaining respondents filed a counter-affidavit despite repeated directions. Keeping in mind nature of this petition, we found no reason to defer the matter further to await a counter-affidavit from the remaining respondents. As such we heard the petitioner in person and learned counsel for all respondents.

(3.) Briefly stated, it is pleaded in the petition that the petitioner, having no personal gain and no motive other than the larger public interest has brought this petition bonafide in the interest of justice; that benami transactions qua movable and immovable property are potent source of black money generation and corruption, which, in turn, undermine the rule of law and also lead to economic under-performance of governmental bodies and consequent obstacle in poverty alleviation; that the fundamental rights enshrined in and flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution of India cannot be secured without curbing corruption, but for that purpose no provision has been made by the Government to link Aadhar Cards with the transaction documents related to the movable and immovable property; that if the transactions related to movable and immovable property are linked with Aadhar Cards, it would clean up not just corruption but also the black money and even flaws of the electoral process in this country.