Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought an affidavit by April 24 from the Union government, stating under what circumstances it had allegedly deactivated the Aadhaar card link of some citizens in Bengal.

The order was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya.

The Joint Forum Against NRC, which filed a petition in the high court, and its convenor Prasenjit Bose, alleged that the Narendra Modi government had illegally deactivated the Aadhaar cards of more than 1,000 Indian citizens in Bengal.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Jhuma Sen claimed the act of the Centre was contrary to the provisions laid down in the Constitution and asked for an order telling the Union government to reactivate the Aadhaar cards as soon as possible.

Sen said the move had triggered panic in the minds of common citizens and requested the court to issue an order restraining the Centre from taking such action further before the disposal of the petition.

The petition was moved last week when an additional solicitor general (eastern India), Ashok Chakraborty, claimed that since parliamentary issues were involved in the matter, the court should send a notice to the attorney general, asking him to represent the case. Accordingly, a notice was sent. But as the attorney general could not be present, the additional solicitor general argued on behalf of the Union government.

Chakraborty said the petition should not be given too much importance by the court.

“This action, the government is taking against foreign nationals who have entered the country or are staying here illegally. It has to be done for the safety of the country. If the Aadhaar link of any bonafide citizen has been deactivated, it is surely an error,” said Chakraborty.

He also said the petition should not be taken into consideration by the court, as the petitioner did not furnish the names and the whereabouts of the people whose Aadhaar cards were deactivated.

Advocate Sen then said: “The Union government should have then intimated the persons concerned that it was merely an error. On the contrary, the government is mum on the issue.”

“Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written a letter to the Prime Minister to know the reasons behind the deactivation of the Aadhaar cards, but till date has received no reply,” she added.

After hearing both the parties, the division bench issued the interim order and fixed
the matter for hearing on April 24.