The Bombay High Court has directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to disclose, within two weeks, the documents submitted by Bakaar Hasan Shaikh to obtain an Aadhaar card, allowing a petition filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Navi Mumbai, Bar and Bench and Verdictum reported on Wednesday, October 21.

A division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata was hearing the ATS plea under Article 226 of the Constitution, which sought disclosure of Shaikh's identity information and authentication record under Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. Shaikh is an accused in a case registered by the ATS, and the State told the court that the information relating to him had not been received, even though UIDAI had complied with a trial court order for other co-accused.

The case stems from a March 2018 raid by ATS Navi Mumbai officers on a residential premises in a chawl at Juigaon, in the Panvel area of Raigad district, acting on confidential information. Five Bangladeshi nationals who had allegedly entered India illegally were found living there and were arrested. Investigators say the five presented themselves as Indian nationals and procured PAN cards, election ID cards and Aadhaar cards with the help of, and in connivance with, another accused, using bogus documents.

"A matter of serious concern" — helpers must face prosecution, court says

"Foreign nationals infiltrating Indian border have penetrated deep inside our country. By procuring PAN card, Election ID card and Aadhaar card from the concerned authorities by submitting bogus documents, they present themselves as Indian citizens. This is a matter of serious concern and needs to be investigated by the concerned investigating agency expeditiously," the bench observed, according to both reports.

The court added that the persons and co-accused who help such foreign nationals infiltrate the border and settle in the country by helping them procure the identity cards "must also be thoroughly interrogated and if their role is revealed in the said crime, they must be prosecuted for their illegal acts as per the provisions of law and the investigation must be taken to its logical conclusion." Additional Public Prosecutor P.P. Shinde appeared for the State and advocate Supriya Kak appeared for UIDAI.

The bench has passed similar orders earlier in this line of cases — including on July 27 and August 10 — warning that fake Aadhaar cards create cascading vulnerabilities across identity, immigration and security systems, and had previously directed UIDAI, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bureau of Immigration and state police to share biometric data, impound fake identity credentials and expedite deportation proceedings, Bar and Bench reported.

With the two-week deadline now running, the ATS gets the paper trail it sought for Shaikh's Aadhaar enrolment — and the court's direction puts the local facilitation network, not just the five arrested in 2018, at the centre of the investigation.