Dhananjay Mahapatra and Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN | Updated: Feb 7, 2018, 10:53 IST
HIGHLIGHTS
- Sibal quoted PM's speech in Davos, where the PM had said "whoever controls data is the most powerful and can shape the world"
- He also made light of government's claim that Aadhaar would help crack down on terrorists and money launderers
NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that when the corporate sector recognised ownership of data on people's choices as an important tool for success, the NDA government's strategy to make Aadhaar mandatory - from banking to buying a SIM card - was meant to utilise citizens' personal data for political purposes.
Appearing for West Bengal and two individuals, senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Davos, where the PM had said "whoever controls data is the most powerful and can shape the world".
"I accept that and say he who controls data in India, controls the country as he will exercise power like never before. I am not talking about surveillance, but data power. Aadhaar is the NDA's idea of government's right to information about citizens," he said.
Arguing before a five-judge constitution bench, Sibal drew the court's attention to highly successful multi-nationals like Uber, Amazon and Google. "What is the secret behind their success and why are they considered global corporate giants? That is because they have huge database about people and their choices. More one knows about people, more the business grows," he said.
TOP COMMENT
Kapil Sibbal using Apex Court to please their masters, he said Aadhar should not be mandatory, it is just to save black money stashed at different places with stooges should come to light,
these sycophants of dynasty doing their services to masters keeping national interests at bay.
Surendra Khanna
On Tuesday, Sibal told the bench that when private firms took personal data of a person, they provided increased choices. However, when the government took data through Aadhaar, it aimed to limit the choices of citizens by tying their identity to one card - Aadhaar.
Sibal also made light of government's claim that Aadhaar would help crack down on terrorists and money launderers.