Page:Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr vs Union of India and Ors (Aadhaar Judgement).pdf/3

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 1056 OF 2017

AND

CONTEMPT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 34 OF 2018

IN

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 1014 OF 2017

JUDGMENT

A.K. SIKRI, J.

(For Chief Justice, himself and A.M. Khanwilkar, J.)

Introduction and Preliminaries:

It is better to be unique than the best. Because,

being the best makes you the number one, but

being unique makes you the only one.

2) ‘Unique makes you the only one’ is the central message of Aadhaar, which is on the altar facing constitutional challenge in these petitions. ‘Aadhaar’ which means, in English, ‘foundation’ or ‘base’, has become the most talked about expression in recent years, not only in India but in many other countries and international bodies. A word from Hindi dictionary has assumed secondary significance. Today, mention of the word ‘Aadhaar’ would not lead a listener to the dictionary meaning of this word. Instead, every person on the very mentioning of this word

‘Aadhaar’ would associate it with the card that is issued to a