Delhi HC seeks Centre's representation on plea seeking Aadhaar-property linking

After bank accounts and PAN cards, linking property to Aadhaar may soon be on the cards, in regard to a recent plea filed in the Delhi HC. On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court asked Centre to consider representation for the plea seeking linking of Aadhaar and property.

A recent plea filed in the Delhi High Court is seeking the linking of immovable and movable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar numbers to curb corruption, black money generation, and 'benami' transactions.

Since these are policy decisions, a court cannot ask a government to implement this rule, said bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and Girish Kathpalia. The court ordered that the representation should be decided by the Centre in three months.

Justice Shakdher said during the hearing, "How the courts can get into all this. These are policy decisions, how the courts can tell them to do this. Prima facie, what I don't understand is that these are the areas we don't have the complete picture or data, what are the various aspects that may emerge... Best is to let them treat it as a representation and let them decide."

The petition was filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who highlighted that it is the duty of the Centre to make sure that corruption does not rise in the country through 'benami' properties, acquired through black money.

How will property linked to Aadhaar reduce corruption

According to the petitions, if the linking of properties is made mandatory with Aadhaar, it will be easier to keep a track of black money and 'benami' properties, cleaning out the entire electoral process.

The petition filed by Upadhyay reads, "If the government links property with Aadhaar, it will lead to an increment of two per cent in annual growth. It will clean out the electoral process, which is dominated by black money and benami transactions and thrives on a cycle of large black investments...use of political strength to amass private wealth, all with disdain of the citizen."

Properties purchased through 'benami' transactions lead to the jacking up of prices of real estate as well as basic commodities. The linking of Aadhaar with property can help the Centre track down black money, which is often used in illegal activities like terrorism, naxalism, gambling, money laundering etc.

(With inputs from PTI)