Rojer Mathew case concerning Aadhaar Bill as Money Bill listed for hearing on January 30

Among the following Seven­-Judge Bench matters, the first four matters including Rojer Mathew case concerning Aadhaar Act will be listed before the Constitution Bench presided over by Chief Justice of India. The case was referred to a 7-judge bench by a 5-judge bench in Rojer Mathew vs South Indian Bank Ltd on November 13, 2019 which found the reasoning advanced by Justice A K Sikri with regard to Aadhaar Bill being a Money Bill in Aadhaar case to be inadequate. 

The relevant part of the verdict of 5-judge bench is as under:

"122. Upon an extensive examination of the matter, we notice that the majority in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5) pronounced the nature of the impugned enactment without first delineating the scope of Article 110(1) and principles for interpretation or the repercussions of such process. It is clear to us that the majority dictum in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5) did not substantially discuss the effect of the word ‘only’ in Article 110(1) and offers little guidance on the repercussions of a finding when some of the provisions of an enactment passed as a “Money Bill” do not conform to Article 110(1)(a) to (g). Its interpretation of the provisions of the Aadhaar Act was arguably liberal and the Court’s satisfaction of the said provisions being incidental to Article 110(1)(a) to (f), it has been argued is not convincingly reasoned, as might not be in accord with the bicameral Parliamentary system envisaged under our constitutional scheme. Without expressing a firm and final opinion, it has to be observed that the analysis in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5) makes its application difficult to the present case and raises a potential conflict between the judgements of coordinate Benches."

The 5-judge Constitution Bench gave the following direction:

"123. Given the various challenges made to the scope of judicial review and interpretative principles (or lack thereof) as adumbrated by the majority in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5) and the substantial precedential impact of its analysis of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, it becomes essential to determine its correctness. Being a Bench of equal strength as that in K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5), we accordingly direct that this batch of matters be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India, on the administrative side, for consideration by a larger Bench." This is India’s First Metadata case. The court will decide illegitimacy of Aadhaar Act amidst great data robbery. | 

The remaining two 7-judge bench matters will be listed as per directions on the dates mentioned in the Record of Proceedings dated October 12, 2023.