Nilekani hails SC judgment on its landmark

Asserting that Aadhaar is a unique identity project, its pioneer and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court judgment on it as a landmark.

"This is a landmark judgment in favor of Aadhaar, which is a unique identity project that is critical to the development goals of the nation," Nilekani tweeted hours after a five-judge constitutional bench of the apex court delivered a verdict in its favor.

Nilekani was the first Chairman of Aadhaar's state-run Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) from 2009 to 2014. He re-joined the global software major in August 2017 as non-executive Chairman.

Noting that the Aadhaar Act 2016 had undergone the ultimate scrutiny in the highest court, Nilekani said a lot of recommendations were incorporated in the central government's flagship scheme.

"Through the democratic process of discussion and debate, we have created a better and stronger Aadhaar together," Nilekani said.

Nilekani said the top court had unequivocally validated the founding principles for Aadhaar.

"Aadhaar includes, it doesn't exclude. The resident was once again recognized as being at the heart of the project, and they have gained new rights that help them assert their ownership over their data," he said.