Gujarat High Court Directs UIDAI To Provide Aadhaar Details For Ascertaining Identity Of Accused Alleged To Be Bangladeshi Nationals

The Gujarat High Court has directed the UIDAI to provide the Aadhaar information as required to ascertain the identity of the accused persons involved in an FIR, as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

A complaint was filed against the accused for the offence of criminal breach of trust and cheating. After the investigation, it has revealed that said accused were residents of Bangladesh and have forged some documents, and offence was registered under the Aadhar Act, 2016

The Bench of Justice Hasmukh D. Suthar observed, “Perusing the facts of the complaint as well as the petition, it appears that the information of the accused who does not belong to India and who have forged Aadhar Card and other material documents and to unearth the truth and for coming to logical end of investigation, information is required. Considering bar under The Aadhar Act, 2016 and Aadhar (Amended) Act and other laws, disclosure of information including the identity, authentication of a person is barred but there is no bar under Section 33 of the Aadhar Act, 2016 and the High Court is competent to pass appropriate order in that regard.”

Case Brief

A complaint was filed against the accused for giving false assurance of giving Riyal currency to the complainant and then giving only two notes of 100 Riyal currency. Resultantly, an FIR was registered under Sections 406, 420, 114 of the Indian Penal Code and after investigation, Sections 467, 468, 471 and 120(B) of the IPC as well as Sections 34 and 42 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, were added.

It was also submitted that the accused had also forged Aadhaar Card and PAN Card, which were found in their possession, and for the purpose of identification and/or authentication of the Aadhaar Card, it is important to get details of the accused from the UIDAI.

Court’s Analysis

The Court referred to Sections 28, 29 and 32 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and observed that the Court has the power to pass appropriate directions to the UIDAI to provide the information as required to ascertain the identity of the accused.

Accordingly, the Court issued the direction to the UIDAI and disposed of the Petition.

Cause Title: State Of Gujarat V. Unique Identification Authority Of India, UIDAI, Govt. Of India & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:GUJHC:31050)

Appearance:

Applicant: Advocate Shruti Pathak

Respondents: Advocates Kshitj M. Amin, Jucky Lucky Chan

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