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IN THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF MANDIA


(CIVIL APPELATE JURISDICTION)

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION NO. XYZ OF 2017

IN THE MATTER OF:

SATISH DHANKAR…………...………………………………PETITIONER

VERSUS

UNION OF MANDIA…..…………………………………….RESPONDENT

(UNDER ARTICLE 136 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF MANDIA)

Most Respectfully Submitted before the Hon’ble Chief Justice and Other
Judges of Supreme Court of Judicature at Mandia.

MEMORIAL ON BEHALF THE RESPONDENT

[Type text] MEMORIAL FOR THE RESPONDENT [Type text]


4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) THE INDEX OF AUTHORITIES………………………………………...


2) THE LIST OF ABBREVATIONS…………………………………………
3) THE STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION………………………………..
4) THE STATEMENT OF FACTS…………………………………………...
5) THE STATEMENT OF ISSUES…………………………………………
6) THE SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS………………………………………….
7) THE ARGUMENTS ADVANCED…………………………………………….
 WHETHER OR NOT THE SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION FILED IN THE
PRESENT CASE IS MAINTAINABLE BEFORE THE HON’BLE COURT OF
MANDIA?
 WHETHER OR NOT PEHCHAAN PROJECT IS ACTING AS A
CONSTRAINT AND VIOLATING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF PRIVACY?
 WHETHER OR NOT PEHCHAAN PROJECT IS IN DEFIANCE TO RIGHT
TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION?
 WHETHER PEHCHAAN IS AN ESSENTIAL REPOSITERY FOR THE
PEOPLE?

8) THE PRAYER…………………………………………………………………..

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

AIR All India Reporter,

PAN Permanent Account Number

H.C High Court

PDS Public Distribution System

GOVT. Government

NUIA National Unique Identification Authority

I.T Information Technology

PIL Public Interest Litigation

HON'BLE Honourable,

IBID. Ibideum,

SC Supreme Court

ORS Others

SCC Supreme Court Cases

HCD High Court Decision

SEC. Section

U.O.I Union Of India

SCD Supreme Court Decision

SCR Supreme Court Reporter

SLP Supreme Leave Petition

VS Versus

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INDEX OF AUTHORITY

CASES
 Dhakeswari cotton Mills ltd.V Cit westbengal,(1955) AIR 65 (SC).
 Kunhayammed Vs State Of Orissa , AIR 2000 SC 2587,2593
 Mohammad Khalil Chishti Vs State Of Rajasthan 2013 GLJ 637(649)(SC)
 Narapat Singh Vs Jaipur Development Authority AIR 2002 SC 2036
 N.Suriyala Vs A.Mohandoss (2007) 9 SCC 196
 Sambhudas Vs State Of Assam (2010) 10 SCC 374
 Sanwant Singh Vs State Of Rajasthan AIR 1961 SC 715
 Tahira Khatoon Vs Salanbir Mohammad (1999) 2 SCC 635
 Pritam Singh Vs The State Air 1950 Sc 169
 Union Of India Vs Rajeshwari & Co. (1986)AIR 1748
 Raghunath Vs Pahulev Chagan Lal Sunderji& Co.(1999) 8 SCC 1 (SC)
 Kharak Singh Vs State Of U.P & Others 1963 AIR 1295
 M.P Sharma And Ors. Vs Satish Chandra 1954 AIR 300
 Pucl Vs Union Of India, AIR 2004 1442
 Justice K.S Puthuswamy & Ors. Vs Union Of India,2017 SCC 99
 Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar & Ors Vs State Of Maharashtra( 1766) 3 SCR 744,753
 Shantistar Builders Vs Narayan Khimlal Totame (1990) 1 SCC 520
 Deoki Nandan Vs Murlidhar AIR 1957 Sc 133
 Dharam Dutt Vs Union Of India AIR 2004 SC 1295
 Papnasam Labour Union Vs Madura Coats Ltd. AIR 1945 SC 2200
 Benett Coleman & Ors Vs Union Of India, AIR 1973, SC 106
 Noise Pollution In Re, AIR 2005 SC 3136
 Ramlila Maidan Incident Vs Home Secretary, Union Of India (2012) 10 SCC 603
 Yusuf Khan Vs Manohar Joshi (1999) SCC (Cri) 577

BOOKS REFERRED

(1). Pandey J.N., Constitutional Law of India, Ed. 52nd(2015)., Central Law Agency.

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(2) Jain M.P.,Indian Constitutional law, Ed. 6th(2012), Lexis Nexis Butterworths Wadhwa,

Nagpur.

(3). Shukla V.N., Constitution of India, Ed.11th,(2008),Eastern Book Company.

STATUTORY COMPILATION

(1) Aadhaar act, 2016

(2) The constitution of india,1950

WEBSITES REFERENCE

 www.indiakanoon.org

 www.indlawinfo.org

 www.legalserviceIndia.com

 www.legalsutra.org

 www.lexisnexisacademic.com

 www.macmillandictionary.com

 www.manupatra.com

 www.scconline.com

 www.scdecision.in

 www.supremeCourtcases.com

 www.vakilno1.com

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MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
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THE STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

The respondents have been brought before the honorable supreme court of Mandia by a Special
Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of Mandia for determining the validity of
Pehchaan Project of the Government of Mandia.1

1
Art. 136- Special Leave To Appeal By The Supreme Court :- (1) Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the
Supreme Court may, in its discretion grants special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination,
sentence or order in any case or matter passed or made by any court or tribunal in the territory of Mandia.
(2) Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to any judgment, determination, sentence or order passed or made by any
court or tribunal constituted by or under any law relating to the Armed Forces.

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MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
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THE STATEMENT OF FACTS

BACKGROUND
1. Republic of Mandia after getting independence on 15th sept, 1946 enacted its
constitution which provided for a democratic parliamentary form of govt. with a
federal structure. It has its autonomous election commission and its Higher judiciary
has power of judicial review of laws & actions of govt. Mandia is a union of states &
is a secular state. Mandian govt. formulated a policy named “pehchaan” for its
citizens by providing those pehchaan cards for identifying citizens for various
benefits and saving duplicity of identities for detecting illegal immigrants & to check
leakage in govt. scheme by following “Zero Tolerance For Corruption”.
2. The policy had certain objectives like checking duplicity of election cards and
initiating tax collection through linking Pan & Bank accounts. Pehchaan cards
would be provided for free & linkage through network of cyber cells. National
Unique Identification Authority under the chairmanship of Mr. Rajeev Khanna
from 30th nov,2009 started making pehchaan cards under the authority of govt. This
task was further delegated to private entities, who were in progress of taking basic
details of citizens like finger prints, iris of eye, blood group, spouse and children
details, educational qualification, diseases like AIDS, CANCER& HEPATITIS-B,
criminal/civil cases pending, govt. loan or any other liability.

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

3. Petitioner, Mr. Satish Dhankar challenged the policy of pehchaan card in Nelhi
High Court on 22jan,2016 by filing PIL on grounds of violation of Right to Privacy,
Right to Speech and Expression and lacking of any law/statutory support.
4. On 24thjan, 2014, Mandian govt. made pechaan compulsory under various social
welfare schemes during pendency of PIL.
5. On 27thjuly, 2014 High Court passed interim order directing the govt. Not to make
pehchaan cards mandatory afterwards the petitioner contended that govt.cannot make
pehchaan cards for different benefit and non-benefit schemes during pendency of PIL.

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6. The High Court permitted govt. to make pehchaan cards mandatory for non-benefit
schemes after govt. filed a application on 28th july,2014 for use of pehchaan cards for
non-benefit schemes like Pan, Mobile Connections and Gas Connections etc.
7. On 11th August,2014 the govt. of Mandia enacted a law called the
PehchaanAct,2014.For providing statutory basis for both benefit & non-benefit
schemes which included check on data protection, penalty & punishments for data
protection. Petition filed application in High Court with original prayers to Quash
Pehchaan Project.
8. On 13th Jan,2015 the govt. made pehchaan card mandatory for scheme7programme
like Pan, Driving License, Opening Bank Account through notification.
9. Fixation of march,2016 as deadline for linking pehchaan cards with bank accounts
and pan cards. Petitioner’s pray to stay on notification was rejected by High Court as
he contended Pehchaan Act,2014 violation of right to privacy, data could be leaked
by private entities. Petitioner also stated about leakage of 13 Crores data of citizens
through pehchaan & claimed hacking of data by IIT Graduate. He contended that
data may be used by Majoritarian govt. or Dictator to disturb Communal
Harmony & Pluralism of country. He also contended that it was against the right to
life under Article 21
10. Respondent argued in High Court about ambit of right to privacy according
provision given in Constitution, and also assented to bring substantive law as soon
as possible to support pehchaan project more on statutory basis.
11. After following the whole procedure of case hearing. The High Court rejected PIL
and declared Pehchaan Act,2014 constitutional to protect the State from Terrorism&
Security related problems from its Hostile Neighbors.
12. High Court also justified it by saying that it would provide appropriate benefits to
citizens by eradicating problem of duplicity of identities & reviewing Double Election
Cards.
13. The Petitioner went to Supreme Court of Mandia to file SLP under the provision of
Constitution for quashing the judgment of High Court of Nelhi.

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MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

STATEMENT OF ISSUES

FOLLOWING ARE THE QUESTIONS BEFORE THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT:

ON MAINTAINABILITY
ISSUE-1: Whether The Special Leave Petition Filed In The Present Case Is Maintainable
Before The Hon’ble Court Of Mandia?

ON MERITS
ISSUE-2: Whether Pehchaan Project Is Acting As A Constraint And Violating The
Fundamental Right Of Privacy?
ISSUE-3: Whether Pehchaan Project Is In Defiance To Right To Freedom Of Speech And
Expression?
ISSUE-4: Whether Pehchaan Is An Essential Repository For The Welfare Of People?

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MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
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SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS

THE SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION FILED IN THE PRESENT CASE IS NOT


MAINTAINABLE BEFORE THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF MANDIA.

It is most respectfully submitted before the Honorable Supreme Court of Mandia that
the instant petition is not maintainable as Special Leave cannot be granted when
substantial justice has been done and no exceptional or special circumstances exist
for case to be maintainable. In the present case no exceptional and special
circumstances exist and substantial justice has already been done.
It is contended by the respondents that no substantial question of law is involved in
the present case and the interference is based on pure question of fact which is entitled
to be dismissed. This court had laid down the test which says if the general principles
to be applied in determining the question of those principles the question would
not be a substantial question of law.
In the present case the petitioner have been unsuccessful to show any exceptional and
special circumstances exist, therefore he is not able to prove locus standi of his
petition.

PEHCHAAN PROJECT DOES NOT COME UNDER THE AMBIT OF


FUNDAMENATEL RIGHT TO PRIVACY

Right to Privacy falls under Article 21 i.e. Right to Life of the constitution of Mandia, but
the thing we must keep in mind is that NO fundamental Right is absolute in Mandia, which
means all fundamental rights are subject to their specific restrictions acc. to constitution of
Mandia. On the face of it may be seen that both right to privacy and pehchaan are
interlinked to each other but its just a type of apparency being created by the petitioner .As
in respective judgements mentioned below it has been concluded that Right to Privacy casts
as mere shadow on the Pehchaan project so it is foolish to mention both in the same breath,
in fact Pehchaan falls under the restrictions provided in Fundamental right of Right to
Privacy. And also in present situation rights other than privacy under article 21 have greater
gravity for the development of Mandia. Also while adherence to principle of separation of
powers the ultimate law making body is the legislature if there is an immediate need to

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introduce any law, some kind of involvement of this body is necessary, as in the present
case legislature was not taken in contention by the court in relation to privacy bill,2011

PEHCHAAN PROJECT IS NOT IN CONTRAVENTION OF RIGHT TO FREEDOM


OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION

Article 19(1) (a) provides right to freedom of speech & expression which is subject to some
specific restrictions of freedoms provided in Article 19(1) as a whole. These restrictions
have been provided from Article 19(2) to 19(6). The Supreme Court has laid down
principles for checking the constitutionality of a statutory provision imposing a restriction
on the Fundamental Right guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) to (g). First one being the test of
reasonableness i.e the restriction must not be arbitrary or of an excessive nature & judicial
approach must necessarily be dynamic, pragmatic and elastic, the other test being effect vs
subject matter test i.e The true test is whether the effect of the impugned action is to take
away or abridge Fundamental Rights. The Right to remain silent is also a part of freedom
of speech & expression , but it is also subject to the ambit of its specific restrictions.

PEHCHAAN IS AN ESSENTIAL REPOSITORY FOR THE WELFARE THE


PEOPLE.

Pechaan policy already has constitutional backing by adherence to principles of equality,


fraternity and liberty given in preamble of the constitution of Mandia which was declared
as the part of the basic structure of the constitution and was declared non-amendable.
Through pehchaan the govt. would become more transparent and accountable towards
citizens. Pehchaan would alleviate problems like duplicity of identities, corruption in Pds
and other welfare schemes. It would help the govt. mark or detect the citizens of the country
through it and facilitate acc .to their specific needs like health facilities to the people having
diff. types type of diseases, appropriate job opportunities on the basis of educational
qualifications, also detecting the illegal immigrants and deporting them to their countries,
therefore protecting nation & its citizens from terrorists immigration to lay strong
foundation in the matter of national security.

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ARGUMENTS ADVANCED

ON MAINTAINABILITY

[ISSUE 1] THE SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION FILED IN THE PRESENT CASE IS


NOT MAINTAINABLE BEFORE THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF MANDIA
It is most humbly submitted before the Hon’ble Supreme court of Mandia that the special
leave petition filed in the present case is not Maintainable as Special Leave cannot be granted
when substantial justice has been done and no exceptional or special circumstances
exist for case to be maintainable. It will not be granted if there is no failure of justice or when
substantial justice is done.Article136 does not give a right to a party to appeal to SC rather it
confers wide discretionary power on the SC to interfere in suitable cases2
Also in the present case, no substantial question of law is involved and interference is based
on pure question off act which is entitled to be dismissed. A mere existence of substantial
question of law is not sufficient unless serious injustice of the substantial nature has been
occasioned3.

[1.1] THE PETITIONER HAS NO LOCUS STANDI UNDER ARTICLE 136 IN THE
PRESENT CASE
The power given to the Supreme Court by Article 136(1) is in the nature of residuary power.
The power is plenary in the sense that there are no words in Article 136 qualifying that power.
It is a sweeping power, exercisable outside the purview of ordinary law to meet the pressing
demands of justice. The Supreme Court has characterized its power under Article 136 as “an
untrammeled reservoir of power incapable of being confined to definitional bounds; the
discretion conferred on the supreme court being subjected to only one limitation, that is, the
wisdom and good sense of justice of the judges”. As mentioned in Kunhayammed vs State of
Orissa4

2
DhakeswariCotton MillsLtd.v CITWestBengal,(1955) AIR 65 (SC).
3
Hon’bleJusticeBhanwarSingh,CriminalAppeals,JTRIJournal,1995.
4
AIR 2000 SC 2587, 2593

[Type text] MEMORIAL FOR THE RESPONDENT [Type text]


4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

The Supreme Court has also described its voluntary natureof power given in Article 136 in the
case of Mohammed Khalil Chisti vs State of Rajasthan5
“The exercise of jurisdiction conferred by article 136 of the constitution on this court is
discretionary. It does not confer the right to appeal on a party to litigation; it only confers
discretionary power of widest amplitude on this court to be exercised for satisfying the
demands of justice. On the one hand, it is an exceptional power to be exercised sparingly with
caution and care to remedy extraordinary situations”. Hence the Supreme Court will grant
special leave to appeal in exceptional cases- where grave and substantial injustice has been
done by disregard to the forms of legal process violation of the principles of natural justice or
otherwise6.
The discretionary nature of power continues until the disposal of appeal7. In the landmark case
of Pritam Singh vs The State8, the honorable court concluded that it will not grant special leave,
unless it is shown that exceptional and special circumstances exist, that substantial and grave
injustice has been done.
In the present case the petitioner filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court of
Nelhi on 22nd January 2010 against the Pehchaan policy, and fiercely contended that the policy
lacks statutory backup. The government in response to this argument altered its existing policy
and enacted a new law i.e. Pehchaan Act 2014, which provided statutory backup for the
Pehchaan policy and included a whole chapter on data protection, penalties and punishments
for data leakage. He then again tried to be a constraint in the smooth working of Pehchaan by
filing a fresh petition in the High Court quashing the whole Pehchaan Project of the
Government of Mandia. After hearing the matter in detail for more than 5 years, and going
through materials and documents submitted by petitioner and the respondent, the High Court
of Nelhi rejected the PIL and held that Pehchaan project has constitutional validity.
It is clear that the petitioner was given ample from the side of subordinate court to prove the
reasonability of his arguments which he evidently failed. And the petition filed by the petitioner
under Article 136 does not contain any of the above stated exceptions as declared by the
Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Sanwant Singh vs State of Rajasthan. And hence there
are no grounds of substantial basis put forth by the petitioner on which the Supreme Court may

5
2013 CrLJ 637(649) (SC); Narpat Singh vs Jaipur Development Authority, AIR 2002 SC 2036: N. Suriyakalavs
A. Mohandoss, (2007) 9 SCC 196: Sambhudasvs State of Assam, (2010) 10 SCC 374
6
Sanwant Singh vs State of Rajasthan, AIR 1961 SC 715
7
Tahera khatoon vs Salambin Mohammad, (1999) 2 SCC 635
8
AIR 1950 SC 169

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feel satisfied to allow the petitioner to follow the first step of filing a SLP i.e. the Supreme may
on its discretion grant or permit leave for hearing further arguments under SLP.
Therefore, in the present case the petitioner lack features of sufficient gravity to warrant a
review of the decision appealed against and hence the petitioner doesn’t have locus standi in
the present case which is evident by the facts stated above. The sub ordinate judiciary has time
to time tried its level best to maintain a minimum common difference in the interests of both
petitioner and respondents by giving them equal chance of stating their respective points as
mentioned in facts but the petitioner is still not satisfied. These actions of petitioner wholly
prove that he is constantly interfering in the long-term visionary project of the government to
grant himself retributive justice through judiciary reluctantly by barring their precious time.

[1.2]NO IRREGULARITY OF PROCEDURE OR VIOLATION OF

PRINCIPLE OF NATURAL JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE.

In plethora of cases, it has been held that except that where there has been illegality or an
irregularity of procedure or a violation of principle of natural justice resulting in the absence
of a fair trial or gross miscarriage of justice, the SC does not permit a third review of evidence
with regard to question of fact in cases in which two courts of fact have appreciated and
assessed the evidence with regard to such questions9
It is contended that this court is not bound to go into the merits and even if it were to do so,
and declare the law or point out the error, still it may not interfere if the justice of the case on
facts doesn’t require interference or if it feels that the relief could be molded in a different
fashion10.
In relation of the facts of the present case the High Court has taken enough time (more than
5 years) on proceedings of the case with full rationality and reasonability to come to an
authentic solution, as the approach of the High Court was always pragmatic. Therefore no
violation of principle of natural justice, miscarriage of justice has been done because the High
Court has not performed any irregularity in the procedure of fair trial, and given equal
opportunities to both the parties to prove their point.

9
UnionofIndiav.Rajeswari&Co.,(1986)AIR1748(SC).
10
RaghunathG.Pauhalev.ChaganLalSundarji&Co.,(1999)8SCC1(SC).
s

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ON MERITS

[ISSUE-2] WHETHER PEHCHAAN PROJECT COMES UNDER THE AMBIT OF


FUNDAMENATEL RIGHT TO PRIVACY

JUDGEMENT IN CONTENTION
In the recent case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy and Ors. Vs Union of India and ors, the Supreme
Court delivered a landmark verdict and declared that Right to Privacy is a Fundamental right
enshrined in Part III of the constitution of Mandia. Justice DY Chanderchud noted that
“Privacy is a constitutionally protected right which emerges primarily from the guarantee of
life and personal liberty in Article 21 of the Constitution”.
“Although an 11 Judge bench is having more wisdom than a 9 Judge bench which decided the
case, but we feel that they correctly overruled the principles laid down in Kharak singh11 and
M.P Sharma12; we don’t wish to waste the precious time of the Hon’able Supreme Court by
arguing about the constitutional validity of Right to Privacy.
Right to Privacy falls under Article 21 i.e. Right to Life of the constitution of Mandia, but the
thing we must keep in mind is No right is absolute in Mandia13, in which the 2 Judge bench
held that
“every right – legal or moral – carries with it a corresponding obligation. It is subjected to
several exemptions/exceptions indicated in broad terms. Unlike constitutions of some other
developed countries, however, no fundamental right in Mandia is absolute in nature.
Reasonable restrictions can be imposed on such fundamental rights. If a reasonable restriction
is imposed in the interest of the state by reason of a valid piece of legislation, the court would
normally respect the legislative policy behind the same”
In the present case, government introduced Pehchaan in the back drop of a Pehchaan Act, 2014
and demanded simple basic information for the welfare of the citizens on which the high court
too has taken note in their judgement, in favour of the government.
Justice Chanderchud in the landmark Right to Privacy judgement noted that
“Like other rights which form part of the fundamental freedoms protected by Part III, including
the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, privacy is not an absolute right. A law,
which encroaches upon privacy, will have to withstand the touchstone of permissible

11
Kharak Singh vs The State of U. P. & Others, 1963 AIR 1295
12
M. P. Sharma And Others vs Satish Chandra, 1954 AIR 300
13
PUCL vs Union of India, AIR 2004 SC 1442

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restrictions on fundamental rights. In the context of Article 21 an invasion of privacy must be


justified on the basis of a law which stipulates a procedure which is fair, just and reasonable.
The law must also be valid with reference to the encroachment on life and personal liberty
under Article 21. An invasion of life or personal liberty must meet the three-fold requirement
of (i) legality, which postulates the existence of law; (ii) need, defined in terms of a legitimate
state aim; and (iii) proportionality, which ensures a rational nexus between the objects and the
means adopted to achieve them; and (I) Privacy has both positive and negative content. The
negative content restrains the state from committing an intrusion upon the life and personal
liberty of a citizen. Its positive content imposes an obligation on the state to take all necessary
measures to protect the privacy of the individual. 4 Decisions rendered by this Court
subsequent to Kharak Singh, upholding the right to privacy would be read subject to the above
principles”.
Hence there is a three-fold requirement for Right to Privacy
(i) Legality, which postulates the existence of the law
Penchaan scheme of the government is backed by a statute i.e. Pehchaan Act, which is enacted
as per the power provided to it by the constitution in Article 24514.
(ii) Need
Pehchaan scheme is of a great need for the development of Mandia, many developed countries
in the world have similar schemes to keep the records of their citizens for maintaining the even
distribution of government funds and making sure that the benefits of the policies are reaching
to the poorest of the citizens. Why Pehchaan is necessary is further elaborated in Issue 4.
(iii) Proportionality which ensures a rational nexus between the objects and the
means adopted to achieve them
Under this scheme, the government demands some basic information from the citizens, the
main objective is to check if every citizen is getting the benefits of the policies or not, Mandia
is surrounded by hostile neighbors and there are frequent infiltrations form the terrorists in the
border areas of Mandia due to which the safety and sovereignty of the state is compromised.

14
Extent of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws for the whole or any part of the
territory of India, and the Legislature of a State may make laws for the whole or any part of the State
(2) No law made by Parliament shall be deemed to be invalid on the ground that it would have extra territorial
operation

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Hence Pehchaan becomes pivotal in identifying between our citizens and terrorists. Also,
various other information demanded is for the welfare of the citizens only.

RELEVANCE BETWEEN PEHCHAAN & PRIVACY

Prima facie it might seem that Right to Privacy and Pehchaan are interlinked but it’s not, as
Justice AM Sapre noted15
“Some learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners, however, argued that the law laid
down by this Court in some earlier decided cases though not referred for consideration be also
overruled while answering the questions referred to this Bench whereas some senior counsel
also made attempts to attack the legality and correctness of Pehchaan Scheme in
their submissions.”

“….It is for the reason that firstly, this Bench is constituted to answer only specific questions;
secondly, the submissions pressed in service are not referred to this Bench and lastly, it is a
settled principle of law that the reference Court cannot travel beyond the reference made
and is confined to answer only those questions that are referred 16....”
Suffice it to say that as and when any of these questions arise in any case, the court held that
an appropriate Bench will examine such questions on its merits in accordance with law. Hence
it is clear from the conclusion drawn by Justice Sapre that Right to Privacy casts as mere
shadow on the Pehchaan project so it is foolish to mention both in the same breath, in fact
Pehchaan falls under the restrictions provided in Fundamental right of Right to Privacy.
IMPORTANT RIGHTS EVOLVED BY VIRTUE OF ARTICLE 21

Mandia is a developing country, and reports of world bank show that is a huge section of our
population (numbering about 30% of Mandia) which lives below the poverty line, the basic
means to live a so called comfortable life is abstaining from them. They need what this
Hon’able court has termed as a mere ‘animal existence’. This Hon’able court has, in a catena
of cases, taken the vie w the Right to Life guaranrteed under Article 21 of the constitution

15
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy and Ors. Vs Union of India (Right to Privacy Judgement)
16
Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar&Ors. vs. State of Maharashtra &Anr. (1966) 3 SCR 744 753...

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implies the Right to Food, water, decent environment, education, medical care and shelter. For
instance, in Shantistar Builders vs Narayan khimalal Totame17, it was held that
“Basic needs of man have traditionally been accepted to be three-food, clothing and shelter.
The right to life is guaranteed in any civilized society. That would take within its sweep the
right to food, the right to clothing, the right to decent environment and a reasonable
accommodation to live in. The difference between the need of an animal and a human being
for shelter has to be kept in view. For the animal, it is the bare protection of the body; for a
human being, it has to be a suitable accommodation which would allow him to grow in every
aspect - physical, mental and intellectual. The Constitution aims at ensuring fuller development
of every child. That would be possible only if the child is in a proper home. It is not necessary
that every citizen must be ensured of living in a well- built comfortable house but a reasonable
home particularly for people in India can even be mud-built thatched house or a mud- built
fire-proof accommodation”
As mentioned in the facts Mandia was a country that was ruled by Britica for about 150 years
from the date of its independence till today it has managed alter into a developing country, still
millions of people are devoid of basic necessities of life like food, clothing, jobs and do not
even have shelter due to which they are forced to sleep on pavements in the height of winters
perhaps to die, no claim to a Right to Privacy of the nature claimed in this case as a fundamental
right would lie. Any such claim would, in the background of what is stated above, be based on
an approach which is elitist in nature, especially in the light of the allegation that Pehchaan
would convert Mandia into a totalitarian state which is only a type of nightmare or an
assumption on the part of the petitioner that he contended in the high court.
Based on the arguments put forward through statutes and authorities in relevance of the facts
of the present case at last we want to conclude that on the basis of separation of power time to
time not only the executive but the judiciary also has tried to make cognizance of the fact that
there is by far quiet minute relation between Right to Privacy and Pehchaan and if someone
would want to argue on the basis of this minute relation than the government also has enough
reasonableness from its side to prove that its Pehchaan policy is within the ambit of restrictions
of fundamental right of Article 21.

SEPERATION OF POWERS

17
(1990) 1 SCC 520

18.
MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

About Right to Privacy the government wants to argue that earlier it was not expressly
guaranteed in the constitution of Mandia but after the recent judgement it has been guaranteed
through informal method of amendment by the judiciary i.e. implied without consulting the
ultimate law-making body of the country, legislature. Already Privacy Bill, 201118 that aimed
to provide right to privacy to citizens and to regulate collection, maintenance of their personal
information is still pending. The point in contention should be that there would have been some
appropriate reason due to which the legislature was reluctant to provide the citizens of this
country with Right to Privacy.
In the present situation, also the Pehchaan policy is quite integrated to the benefits of public
matters i.e. welfare of public at large, as noted by the Supreme court in Deoki nandan vs
Murlidhar19, therefore it has no motive anywhere to infringe the right to privacy of the citizens.

18
Justice (retd) KS Putthaswami vs Union of India, 2017 SCC 99
19
AIR1957SC133

19.
MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT
4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

[ISSUE-3] PEHCHAAN PROJECT IS NOT IN CONTRAVENTION OF RIGHT TO


FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION?
Freedom of speech is the bulwark of democratic government. This freedom is essential for the
proper functioning of the democratic process. Article 19(1) (a) provides for this right. The freedom
of speech and expression is regarded as the first condition of liberty. It has been truly said that it
is the mother of all liberties20.
Indeed, these rights are basic rights which are recognized and guaranteed as natural rights, inherent
in the status of a free country. However, the freedoms guaranteed by Article19(1) are not
Absolute as no rights can be. Each of these rights is liable to be controlled, curtailed and regulated
to some extent by the laws made by the parliament and state legislatures. Accordingly clauses (2)
to (6) of Article 19 provide grounds for reasonable restrictions a legislature can impose on these
rights. Rights in clause (1) “do not stand in common pedestal but have varying dimensions and
underlying philosophies” as stated in Dharam Dutt vs Union of India21.
Hence there is a double test to check adjudge the validity of a restriction as per clauses 19(2) to
19(6):-
(a) Whether it is reasonable?
(b) Whether it is for the purpose mentioned in the clause under which the restriction is being
imposed?

Test of Reasonableness
In Papnasam22, the Supreme Court laid down principles for checking the constitutionality of a
statutory provision imposing a restriction on the Fundamental Right guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a)
to (g) they are:-
(a) The restriction must not be arbitrary or of an excessive nature so as to go beyond
the requirement of felt need of the society and object sought to be achieved. In the present
case the government only demanded information for profiling citizens and provide them with
the card called Pehchaan. As noted by the High Court of Nelhi ,the main objective was to identify
citizens for the various benefits given by the government, prevent duplicity of identities, prevent

20
Report of the Second Press Comm., Vol.I, 34-35
21
AIR 2004 SC 1295
22
PapnasamLabour Union vs Madura Coats Ltd. AIR 1995 SC 2200

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4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

corruption, identify illegal immigrants, etc. Hence it is clear that restriction is not arbitrary or
excessive in nature and the government is correct to impose this restriction.
(b) In appreciating such problems and felt need of the society the judicial approach
must necessarily be dynamic, pragmatic and elastic. Indeed from the time the petitioner filed
the PIL in subordinate court he was given ample time to be heard, in the course of proceedings
that seemingly went for more than five years the High Court ordered timely stays in the project,
but when the petitioner demanded the stay on the government’s notification until the final
disposal of the PIL the court refused to stay but agreed for a day to day hearing of the case
keeping in view the urgency of the matter. Hence it is clear that the subordinate court deemed
the restrictions reasonable and their approach was dynamic rather than static and elastic rather
than rigid as it should be.
Effect v. Subject- Matter Test

In Bennett Coleman23, the Hon’able Supreme Court came out with a test to ascertain whether a
law violates Article 19(1) (a) or any other fundamental right.

“The true test is whether the effect of the impugned action is to take away or abridge
Fundamental Rights”. Here in the present case, under the Pehchaan scheme the government is
demanding basic information from the citizens for making Pehchaan card. Indeed the citizens are
having the right to remain silent but we have to look at the broader picture here, the intention of
the government is not to harm the individual rights of the citizens but it’s for their welfare. The
High Court also upheld this stance of the government and held that right to deny information to
the government cannot be held to be a fundamental right in the light of the necessity to protect the
state from terrorism and other security related problems.

RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

Right to Speech implies the right to silence. It implies freedom, not to listen and not to be forced
to listen. The right comprehends the freedom to be free from what one desires to be free from for
eg. The use of loudspeaker may be incidental to the exercise of the right but, its use is not a matter
of right, or part of the rights guaranteed by ARTICLE 19(1) what one person may not wish to hear

23
Bennett Coleman & Co. vs Union of India, AIR 1973 SC 106

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as mentioned in case noise pollution (v) In re24. While it is necessary to maintain and preserve
freedom of speech and expression in a democracy, so also it is necessary to place some curbs on
this freedom for the maintenance of social order. No freedom can be absolute or completely
unrestricted25.
Accordingly under Article 19(2), the state may make any law imposing ‘reasonable restrictions’
on the exercise of right of freedom of speech and expression ‘in the interest of’ the security of
the state, friendly relations with the foreign states, public order, decency, morality, sovereignty
and integrity of India, or ‘in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an
offence.As noted by the High Court Pehchaan scheme is necessary to protect the state from
terrorism and other security related problems, like illegal immigrants. Also Pehchaan policy helps
eradicate the problem of duplicity of identities, which helps making elections free and fair, and
checks the corruption in government schemes like PDS and many more multifarious benefits that
would be mentioned in ISSUE-4.
Hence the scheme is in the interest of the security of the state, helps maintain public order,
morality and sovereignty and integrity of the nation. The facts clearly indicate that the
Pehchaan policy falls under restrictions provided in Article 19(2) to 19(6).

24
AIR 2005 SC 3136
25
RamlilaMaidan Incident vs Home Secretary, Union of India, (2012)10 SCC 603

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4TH JUSTICE MURTAZA HUSSAIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

[ISSUE-4] PEHCHAAN IS AN ESSENTIAL REPOSITORY FOR THE WELFARE THE


PEOPLE.
It is humbly submitted that the Pehchaan Card is indispensible in nature at present situation both
for the Govt. to implement a stark hold in the matter of maintenance of Sovereignty of country
and for the people to alleviate their Identity Crisis.

[4.1] PEHCHAAN IS QUITE PIVOTAL


Pehchaan was introduced vigilantly by the keeping all things in contention like keeping in mind
the federal and democratic structure of the country, so that it may not act as a hindrance for the
smooth functioning of democracy .It wholly implements the goal of the preamble of the country
as pehchaan card in the hand of every citizen would lead to Egalitirianism in the nation which is
in favor of Equality Of Status And Opportunity as mentioned as the basic feature of the
preamble in natural resources allocations In re26 and the constitution itself. Equality among
individuals would inculcate them with the feeling of Brotherhood&Family among themselves as
no one would be over and above each other, which would be a type of initiation towards the
principle of Fraternity. As the citizens of the country holding pehchaan card in their hands would
lead removal of any doubt in the mind of the govt. about their respective identities, therefore they
would have full freedom to question the running govt on any matter, which would also work or
would be an adherence to the principle of Liberty Of Thought & Expression therefore the govt.
has upheld individual liberty according to values declared in the case of Yusuf Khan vs Manohar
Joshi27. By following of these principles of preamble there is already a sense of Legal Backup to
pehchaan. Execution of these principles through pehchaan would also force the govt. itself to be
more focused and visionary for implementation of Transparency, as the citizens would be
authorized enough to maintain a kind check&balance on every single programme and policy
brought by the govt. ,and also Accountability as govt. would be needed to pass through the test
of transparency , so therefore any folly or mistake on the part of the govt. would be taken as an
initiation of bad governance and as mentioned above the authorized citizens would always be there

26
2012 AIR SCW 6194
27
(1999) SCC (Cri) 577

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to force the govt. to be circumspect before bringing anything new for the citizens of the country
such that it may not be Arbitrary28 in nature.
Although the govt. was quite reluctant to argue on the benefits of pehchaan but the vague& time
consuming petitions filed by petitioner has forced us to shed light on pros of the policy to
overcome the imaginary cons established by the petitioner.
1) The pehchaan was meant to identify citizens for various benefits & also saving
duplicating of identities by which the govt would be able to detect illegal immigrants taking
superfluous shelter in the country, which would help the govt. to deport them to their respective
countries.
2) The main aim of the policy which would hold as a subset of the policy was to check &
then fix the leakage in govt. schemes, to prevent corruption happening in PDS and other subsidy
providing schemes of the govt., which was acting as filtration as the appropriate policies made
for the people were not able to testify itself on reality grounds in terms of implementation.
3) The govt. is working with a broad vision of development in mind with the viewpoint of
convenient method of tax extraction from the citizens by linking their Permanent Account
Numbers & Bank Accounts which would provide govt. with authentic information about
regular transactions of the citizens. Resulting ,that the money collected through tax and past
unveiling money stored in Hawala transactions could be used for betterment of its citizens by
investment of that money on the infrastructure of the country
4) The govt. was in need to be acquainted of what we call after the privacy judgment
confidential details , people are happy to share these type of details to social networking sites,
without any benefit in return. Govt. by knowing detail of each individual would be able to
facilitate everyone with different approach for example by knowing about educational
qualifications govt. would be able to provide appropriate employment to the people, by knowing
about life-threatening diseases like Aids, Cancer And Hepatitis-B govt. would be able to take
impulsive actions for the assistance of health facilities to the citizens for the eradication of these
diseases. And by cognizance of the facts related to criminal/civil cases pending in any court,
govt. loan or any other liability on citizens’ govt. would be able to mark & detach the offenders
of the law of the country and also would be able to provide any help to whosoever ready to alter
his past gloomy personality through Rehabilitation Centers.

28
(1999)SCC (Cri)57

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MISINTERPRETATION
1) The petitioner is roaming around the world of misunderstanding & misinterpretation
related to pehchaan as time to time he has filed petition behind the back of PIL to work for the
fulfillment of its own fictional & unknown objective high-handedly.
2) The High Court also justified mandatory nature of pehchaan by making innumerable
benefits of pehchaan card in contention. High Court also accepted govt’s. Statement on hiring of
private entities that the govt. is not having adequate resources and staff for this purpose and
hence it’s outsourcing of data collection was specified because of stigmatic reasons like lack of
resources, expertise and staff with the govt.
3) The petitioner has also confronted that 13 Crore data of citizens was leaked from
pehchaan database which is completely erroneous on the part of the petitioner, as first of all
petitioner has not veiled the source from which he collected this fake information. And second
of all 13 Crore citizens mean 10% Of Mandian Population, effection of this much population
would had made the matter of National Importance for which the Supreme Court Of Mandia
would itself had taken Suo Moto Cognizance in this matter.
4) The petitioner is also not lucid about the matter of so called hacking of data by IIT
graduate. As mentioned the pehchaan act contains a whole chapter on data protection and
penalties and punishments, specially mention in Section 37 Of Pehchaan Act. Therefore the
culprits would be punished on the basis of mentioned procedure.

Informational privacy is a facet of the right to privacy. The dangers to privacy in an age of
information can originate not only from the state but from non-state actors as well. The Union
Government is trying to examine and put into place a robust regime for data protection. The
creation of such a regime requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and
legitimate concerns of the state. The legitimate aims of the state would include for instance
protecting national security, preventing and investigating crime, encouraging innovation and the
spread of knowledge, and preventing the dissipation of social welfare benefits. These are matters
of policy to be considered by the Union government while designing a carefully structured regime
for the protection of the data.

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Henceforth, Govt. Has Already Brought Pehachaan Policy By Not Keeping Behind Any Of The
Legal Aspects Pre-Requisite To Be Used As A Statutory Back Up, But Still Taking Responsibility
Of All Of Its Citizens It Is Ready To Bring A Complementery Subtantive Law For Protection Of
Data Within A Specific Time Period.

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PRAYER

In the light of the issues raised, arguments advanced and authorities cited, may this Hon’ble

Court be pleased to:

1. Dismiss this Special Leave Petition.

2. Uphold the order of Hon’ble High Court Of Nelhi i.e Pehchaan Act,2014 is

constitutional & Govt can make pehchaan cards mandatory for citizens is correct.

MEMORIAL FOR THE RESPONDENT - 27 -

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