Tells Bar bodies not to stop any lawyer from hearings

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered issuance of Aadhaar numbers to those who lost their 11-digit unique identification number during the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur even as it emphasised the need for prior necessary verification to ensure that “illegal immigrants” didn’t get undue advantage of the exercise.
Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, September 25

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered issuance of Aadhaar numbers to those who lost their 11-digit unique identification number during the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur even as it emphasised the need for prior necessary verification to ensure that “illegal immigrants” didn’t get undue advantage of the exercise.

Accepting the suggestion made by Justice Gita Mittal-led three-member all-women panel, a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud ordered the UIDAI Deputy Director General, Guwahati and the Manipur Home Secretary to issue Aadhaar numbers to those who lost or misplaced their documents on account of displacement during the violence that has claimed at least 175 lives and left more than 70,000 people displaced.

The Bench, however, clarified that “Necessary verification shall be carried out before issuing Aadhaar cards.”

The directions came after senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, representing the panel, urged the top court to issue directions for re-issuance of Aadhaar numbers to those who lost their documents during the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur.

The top court also directed the Bar Associations in Manipur not to prevent any lawyer, regardless of the community he/she belongs to, from appearing before courts. Any violation of the direction would amount to contempt of the court’s order, it said. “We are a people’s court and giving a hearing is part of the healing process,” the Bench said emphasising that no lawyer should be denied access to court proceedings in Manipur.