Passing Aadhaar as money bill fraud on Constitution: Justice Chandrachud

Even as the five-judge Supreme Court (SC) Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra declared Aadhaar constitutional by a majority verdict, Justice D Y Chandrachud wrote a strong dissenting note, saying the Aadhaar Act could not have been passed as a money Bill and that this amounted to a fraud on the Constitution. Chandrachud said the power of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, to decide whether a Bill is a money Bill, “cannot be untrammelled”. He referred to the bypassing of Rajya Sabha in 2016 as “subterfuge”. “This debasement of a democratic institution cannot be allowed to pass. Institutions are crucial to democracy. Debasing them can only cause a peril to democratic structures. The Aadhaar Act is in violation of Article 110 and, therefore, is liable to be declared unconstitutional,” he said. Commenting on the nature of the UIDAI, he said the Aadhaar Act allowed discretionary powers. The UIDAI can, at any point, expand its powers and even start collecting blood samples of individuals, he added.

Congress to move court if Aadhaar amendments brought as money bill

After the Supreme Court gave its judgment on Aadhaar, sources in the government said an amendment to the Aadhaar Act was being worked out. The Congress party, meanwhile, made it clear it would move the Supreme Court if the Narendra Modi-led government amends the act by bringing it as a money Bill and bypassing discussions in Rajya Sabha. Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the Congress supported the dissenting judgment by Justice D Y Chandrachud, who said the Aadhaar Act could not have been passed as money Bill as it amounted to a fraud on the Constitution. “We will approach a seven-judge bench to consider this verdict again as this is clearly not a money Bill,” he said. Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the SC upheld that the Aadhaar legislation was a money bill. The government has pushed Aadhaar as a money Bill in 2016, which meant that only Lok Sabha could vote on it. The government continues to be a minority in Rajya Sabha. ALSO READ: What does the Aadhaar verdict mean for investors? Here's a quick take Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his understanding of the verdict was that the SC had barred private entities like telecom firms from using Aadhaar data in absence of a legislative backing. He said the prohibited areas, like linking with mobile phone numbers, are not perpetually prohibited, but could be procedurally prohibited — indicating the government could bring in a law to this effect.

Children be given option to exit from Aadhaar on attaining majority: SC

The Supreme Court Wednesday held that the consent of parents was needed for enrolment of children to obtain Aadhaar, but they should be given an option to exit from the project if they choose on attaining the age of majority. The apex court, which declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its contentious provisions, said the requirement of Aadhaar would not be compulsory for school admissions as minors between age of 6 to 14 years have a fundamental right to education. Justice A K Sikri, who penned the lead judgement for Chief Justice Dipak Misra, himself and Justice A M Khanwilkar, also said that no child shall be denied the benefit of any scheme if, for some reason, he or she is unable to produce Aadhaar number. "For the enrolment of children under the Aadhaar Act, it would be essential to have the consent of their parents/guardian," the court said. "On attaining the age of majority, such children who are enrolled under Aadhaar with the consent of their parents, shall be given the option to exit from the Aadhaar project if they so choose, in case they do not intend to avail the benefits of the scheme," Justice Sikri said.

Sikkim's first-ever airport at Pakyong: All you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Pakyong Airport in Sikkim, the first ever aerodrome in the state. Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Union Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu were also present, as the Prime Minister unveiled the plaque, formally inaugurating the 990-acre aero facility.

The airport, which is located at Pakyong, is a Greenfield airport which will circumvent the need for a five-hour journey through mountainous roads and bring citizens of Sikkim closer to the state capital. The first commercial flight from Pakyong is scheduled to start on October 4. SpiceJet will operate 78-seater Bombardier Q400 flights to and fro Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati every day under the Civil Aviation Ministry's Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

SC verdict tomorrow on plea whether mosques are integral to Islam

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Thursday its verdict on a batch of pleas by Muslim groups on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer will pronounce the verdict, which had reserved it on July 20. M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M Ismail Faruqui holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam. It was argued by the Muslim groups before a special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer that the "sweeping" observation of the apex court in the verdict needed to be reconsidered by a five-judge bench as "it had and will have a bearing" on the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case.

Fitch places Bank of Baroda's viability rating on 'rating watch negative'

Fitch Ratings Wednesday placed Bank of Baroda's viability rating (VR) on rating watch negative (RWN), post the government's proposal to merge the lender with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.

The bank's VR currently stands at 'bb'.

The action comes a day after another international rating agency Moody's affirmed ratings of Bank of Baroda, and kept outlook on all the ratings as stable.

"The VR has been placed on rating watch negative (RWN) as we believe the merger could have a potentially negative impact on BoB's financial position depending on the extent of deterioration that is visible after the merger in key financial parameters such as asset quality and core capitalisation," Fitch Ratings said in a report.

The RWN on the VR reflects the potential negative effects of the merger in the near term, while the benefits from scale, cost and business synergies would be visible only in the medium-to-long term, it added.

SBI offloads 4% stake in general insurance arm for Rs 4.81 billion

State Bank of India (SBI) has sold a 4 per cent stake in SBI General Insurance to Axis Asset Management Company (AMC) and Premji Invest for Rs 4.81 billion. The stake sale is part of a pre-offer valuation exercise by SBI General Insurance ahead of its initial public initial public offering (IPO) in March 2019.

SBI General Insurance is a joint venture between the SBI and Insurance Australia Group (IAG). SBI's stake in the venture has come down to 70 per cent, while IAG continues to hold a 26 per cent stake.

The transaction placed a value of Rs 120 billion on SBI General Insurance. Axis New Opportunities AIF – I represented Axis AMC will purchase 1.65 per cent from SBI while PI Opportunities Fund – I, and an investment fund of Premji Invest will purchase a 2.35 per cent stake.