THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on January 10, has denounced the government’s move in registering FIR against the journalist of Tribune, Rachna Khaira and her sources for exposing the leakage-prone systemic fault in Aadhar administration. In fact the journalist should have been rewarded for successfully investigating the faults in the UIDAI system in respect of protecting individual data for preventing intrusion on peoples’ right to privacy, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court also.  

Such vindictive action is the reflection of an obnoxious, authoritarian arrogance of the government as if “the King can do no wrong”. It is also an assault on the freedom of press. In fact such fragility and faults of the Aadhar biometric system in ensuring the personal data of individuals secure and leakage-protected has been pointed out by numerous agencies/organisations/institutions and also was raised in parliament. But the arrogance of the government to not recognise the defects and faults in the system and its fall-outs even for corrective action raises serious doubt about its complicity in maintaining the leakage-proneness of the system to serve various groups of vested interest.

CITU welcomes rising protests against such vindictive action of the government from various organisations and agencies including the journalists’ and newspaper employees’ unions and urges the government to take a call in initiating corrective action. CITU demands upon the government to withdraw the FIR against the journalist in the interest of fairness and propriety.