A woman goes through the process of finger scanning for the Unique Identification (UID) database system Aadhaar.
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that Aadhaar card is not an authoritative proof of the date of birth.
The top court referred to a circular issued by the UIDAI, besides a statutory provision, which declared the school leaving certificate to be valid proof for the date of birth.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed an appeal by Saroj and others against the Punjab and Haryana High Court's judgment which reduced compensation awarded to them for death in a road accident, relying upon date of birth mentioned in Aadhaar card.
The court upheld an order by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal determining age of a deceased on the basis of school leaving certificate to fix the compensation.
The court said that the Unique Identification Authority of India in 2023 has stated, in reference to an Office Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of December 20, 2018, that an Aadhar Card, while can be used to establish identity, it is not per se proof of date of birth.
The bench also pointed out that a school leaving certificate has been accorded the statutory recognition.
It referred to Sub-section (2) of Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 in this regard.
Albeit in the context of different statutes, the bench pointed out, different High Courts had dealt with the issue whether the Aadhar Card is sufficient proof of a person’s age.
It said Aadhar Cards were not “firm proof age" had been stated by several High Courts, including Madhya Pradesh, Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana, Delhi, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
Recently, the bench said, a single judge of the Gujarat High Court in Gopalbhai Naranbhai Vaghela Vs Union Of India & Anr (2024) directed the release of the petitioner's pension in accordance with the date as mentioned in the school leaving certificate, keeping aside the difference in the date of birth as mentioned in the Aadhar Card.
In Shabana Vs NCT of Delhi (2024), a division bench of the Delhi High Court recorded a statement made for and on behalf of UIDAI that “Aadhar Card may not be used as proof of date of birth", the bench said.
In the present case, the Aadhar Card of the deceased showed his date of birth as January 1, 1969. The appellants relied upon the school leaving certificate which recorded his date of birth as October 7, 1970.
Allowing their plea among other grounds, the bench raised the amount of compensation from Rs 9,22,336 to Rs 15 lakh with enhanced rate of interest at the rate of 8 per cent.