Bombay High Court

STATE OF MAHARASHTRAversusDY. DIRECTOR, UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY OF INDIA AND ORS

Decided: 27 August 2026
Disposal: Allowed

Holding

The Court held that UIDAI must furnish the requested Aadhaar certificate and card issuance information to the investigating agency under Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar Act.

Summary

The State of Maharashtra, through a senior police inspector, filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking the UIDAI to disclose information related to Aadhaar Udyog Certificates and approximately 4,002 Aadhaar cards allegedly issued illegally by two accused running a fraudulent Aadhaar centre. The petition invoked Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, arguing that the investigating agency needed the data to pursue offences under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, and 34 of the IPC and Section 34 of the Aadhaar Act. UIDAI contended that disclosure required a hearing of the concerned persons, citing the Supreme Court’s privacy judgment in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India. The Court examined the seriousness of the alleged fraud and the statutory mandate under Section 33(1) to furnish information to a competent investigating authority. It held that the UIDAI must provide the requested documents and data within four weeks. Consequently, the petition was allowed, directing UIDAI to comply with the information request.

Issues considered

Whether UIDAI is obligated under Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar Act to disclose Aadhaar Udyog Certificate details and card issuance data to a criminal investigating agency without a prior hearing of the concerned individuals.
Whether the privacy rights recognized in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India preclude such disclosure in the context of a serious criminal investigation.

Legislation cited

Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 — s. 33(1), 34
Indian Penal Code, 1860 — s. 34, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471

Subjects

Aadhaar Act
Section 33(1)
privacy
information disclosure
criminal investigation
IPC offences
Article 226
writ petition
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy

Judgment

DTG 40-Wp-628-2024.doc

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION NO. 628 OF 2024

State Of Maharashtra ]
Through Sr. Inspector of Police, DCB, CID, ]
Unit-6, Chembur, Mumbai ] … Petitioner
V/s.
1. Dy. Director, ]
Unique Identification Authority Of India, ]
Mumbai, 7th Floor, MTNL Telephone ]
Exchange, G.D. Somani Marg, ]
Cuff Pared, Mumbai – 400 005 ]

2. Unique Identification Authority Of India, ]
Government of India (GoI) ]
Bangla Sahib Road, Behind Kali Mandir, ]
Gole Market, New Delhi – 110 001 ]

3. Union Of India, ]
Through Ministry of Electronics and ]
Information Technology ]
New Delhi ] … Respondents
_______________________________________

Smt. P.P. Shinde, A.P.P. for Petitioner-State.

Mr. R.V. Govilkar, Senior Advocate a/w Ms. Sanika Kurlekar i/b Mr. Adarsh
Vyas for Respondents.

Ms. Rupali Chaudhari, API, Unit-6, Chembur, Crime Branch, Mumbai, present.
_______________________________________

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DTG 40-Wp-628-2024.doc

CORAM : A. S. GADKARI AND
KAMAL KHATA, JJ.

DATE : 27th August 2026

JUDGMENT : (Per : A. S. Gadkari, J.) :-

1) By this Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the

Petitioner-State of Maharashtra through the Senior Inspector of Police, DCB

CID Unit 6, Chembur, Mumbai, seek the following relief :-

“(ii) that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to peruse the entire
record and proceedings in respect of offence registered at
Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Mumbai vide C.R. No. 50/2024
and subsequently re-registered as DCB CID CR. No. 05/2024,
under section 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 34 of IPC and section
34 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other
Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (hereinafter
referred to as “the Adhar Act”) and also communication dated
communication dated 30/1/2024 addressed by Dy. Director,
Unique Identification Authority of India, Mumbai to Sr.
Inspector of Police, DCB, CID, Unit-6, Chembur, Mumbai and
this Hon’ble Court may please exercise its power under section
33(1) of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and
Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 and direct the
Respondent No.1 to give necessary information to the petitioner
as per the application / letter dated 19/01/2024 (Exhibit – B
to the petition) addressed by Sr. Inspector of Police, DCB, CID,
Unit-6, Chembur, Mumbai to Dy. Director, Unique Identification
Authority of India, Mumbai.”

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DTG 40-Wp-628-2024.doc

2) Heard Ms. Shinde, learned APP for the Petitioner-State and Mr.

Govilkar, learned Senior Advocate for the Respondents. Perused record

including the Affidavit dated 12th August 2024 filed by Dr. Amar Bhadange,

Deputy Director of Respondent No.1 on behalf of the Respondents.

3) It is the case of the Petitioner that, they received confidential

information that, accused Abidulla and his associate Gulam runs a Aadhaar

Centre by name Raza Enterprises. These accused have been preparing bogus

documents without obtaining any authentication as mandated and on the

basis of such bogus documents, they have been issuing bogus Aadhaar Cards,

as per the demands of their customers by accepting illegal consideration.

3.1) During the course of investigation, it was revealed that, the said

accused persons obtained Aadhaar Udyog Certificates, having Reg.No. UID-

495204, Certificate No. NS-202428 and Kit No. 0271 from Respondent No.1

Department.

3.2) It was further revealed that, accused Abidulla Mehfuj Ahamad

Khan ran the said Aadhaar Centre. Similarly, the accused Aman Krushna Pande

also ran the said Aadhaar Centre six to seven months prior to the date of raid

i.e. 17th January 2024.

3.3) Accordingly, on 17th January 2023, a trap was laid and the said

two persons were arrested. A crime bearing C.R. No. 50 of 2024, under

Sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code

and Section 34 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other

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DTG 40-Wp-628-2024.doc

Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, dated 17 th January 2024, came to

be registered with Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Mumbai. The said crime was

thereafter transferred for further investigation to DCB, CID, Unit-6. The Crime

Branch re-registered the said crime as C.R. No. 5 of 2024 and started further

investigation.

4) The Investigating Agency, therefore, now wants the documents

submitted by the said two accused persons for procuring the said Aadhaar

Udyog Certificate and the permission for running said Aadhaar Centre.

5) Dr. Amar Bhadange, Deputy Director of Respondent No.1 has filed

a detailed Affidavit. In para No.19 of the Affidavit, it is stated that, the said

accused persons used specific Aadhaar Kits numbers to issue approximately

690 Aadhaar Cards up to 19th January 2024 and a total of 4002 Aadhaar Cards

were either freshly issued or updated.

5.1) It is stated that, in view of Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar (Targeted

Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016,

and the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Retd. Justice K.S.

Puttaswamy Vs. Union of India (2019) 1 SCC 1, the Respondent No.1 are not

be permitted to share the information with the Investigating Agency without

hearing the concerned persons.

5.2) Further, in para No. 22 thereof, the concerned Authority has

requested this Court to pass appropriate directions in accordance with the

provisions of Section 33(1) of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and

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DTG 40-Wp-628-2024.doc

Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

6) As noted above, the Crime Branch is investigating a serious

offence wherein it alleged that, about 4002 Aadhaar Cards are either illegally

issued or updated in the system of Respondent No.1. The Investigating Agency

therefore needs the entire data of all these Aadhaar Cards from Respondent

No.1, to resolve crime.

7) According to us, the allegations against the said two accused

persons in either running an illegal Aadhaar Centre or legally running an

Aadhaar Centre which permission was procured on the basis of bogus or in-

genuine or fraudulent documents needs to be thoroughly investigated.

8) In view of the above, taking into consideration the seriousness of

the offence, we deem it fit to allow the Petition in terms of prayer clause (ii).

9) Respondent No.1 is directed to provide all the necessary and

relevant information pertaining to the said Aadhaar Udyog Certificates, having

Reg.No. UID-495204, Certificate No. NS-202428 and the information

pertaining to the said 4002 number of Aadhaar Cards more specifically

mentioned in para No. 19 of Affidavit dated 12 th August 2024, to the

Investigating Agency within a period of four weeks from the date of uploading

of the present Judgment on the official website of the High Court of Bombay.

10) Petition is allowed in the aforesaid terms.

( KAMAL KHATA, J. ) ( A.S. GADKARI, J. )
Digitally signed
by
DNYANESHWAR DNYANESHWAR
TULSHIRAM TULSHIRAM
GHUMNAR
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GHUMNAR
Date: 2026.09.02
19:03:30 +0530

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