A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Madras High Court requesting it to direct the Tamil Nadu government to stop implementing the linking of Aadhaar card with electricity board (EB) connections. The petition also requested the court to revoke a government order dated October 6 that enabled the implementation of Aadhaar linking with EB connection.
The first bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the direction to the state government to file its response within a week on the petition filed .The bench passed the direction on hearing a petition filed by ML Ravi, advocate and president for Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi (DMSK).
Ravi argued that Aadhaar-linking will create a big issue for persons who live in rented houses. “What will the new tenant do if the current tenant linked his Aadhaar details to the EB connection of the rented house?” he asked. The petitioner also requested the court to direct Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) to withdraw from the implementation of Aadhaar-EB linking because it creates disparity between people who benefit from social welfare schemes.
“The state government conducts special camps across the state to link Aadhaar with the EB connection. The Aadhaar Act mandated providing alternative proof if people don’t have Aadhaar cards. But the TN government didn’t provide alternative options for those without Aadhaar,” the PIL read. It also alleged that there is no legal provision for the government to state that it will not give subsidies to those who do not link Aadhaar with their EB connection.
However, the government informed the HC, the EB department cannot enter into a dispute between the house owners and tenants in getting the subsidy. The GO was passed only after obtaining proper permission from all the nodal agencies.
“It was stated that if the Aadhaar was not linked with the electricity service connection, the consumers could not even make the electricity bill payment. The TANGEDCO website and other government platforms did not reveal anything about the alternate documents for the Aadhaar for obtaining the benefits. It is noted that no Act or Rule was framed in this regard, ” the petitioner submitted.
