January 07, 2017

Mumbai Press Club strongly condemns the unilateral action of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for lodging an FIR against Tribune reporter Rachna Khaira over story on Aadhar data breach.

The Tribune report had claimed that it took just Rs 500 and 10 minutes for the newspaper to get an access through an "agent" to every detail of any individual submitted to the UIDAI, including name, address, postal code (PIN), photo, phone number and email.

According to The Indian Express report, an unnamed deputy director has filed an FIR under Indian Penal Code Sections 419 (punishment for cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) against the accused.

This will be treated as nothing short of an attack on the privileges and rights of a free press, and the administration would be well advised to avoid a clash with the Fourth Estate.

Mumbai Press Club demands an impartial inquiry on the Aadhar data sale and take action against those involved in the data breach instead of taking action against the journalist who exposed it. 

Dharmendra Jore
Secretary
Mumbai Press Club