GURUGRAM: Kalyani Menon-Sen — one of the activists whose petitions challenging Aadhaar led to the Supreme Court examining the right to privacy and ruling that it is a fundamental right — said she had joined “Say No To Aadhaar” campaign in 2010, realising that “it’s a surveillance mechanism packaged as a welfare measure”.Menon, a Gurgaon-based activist, joined Magsaysay awardee Dr Shantha Sinha to file a writ petition in the apex court earlier this year, challenging the mandatory linking of social welfare benefits with Aadhaar. She contends that the Centre’s move is a violation of constitutional rights. Hers was one of the petitions on the basis of which a nine-judge bench examined the right to privacy and ruled it is a fundamental right assured under Article 21 of the Constitution.Menon wholeheartedly welcomes the ruling. “It was an excellent decision taken by the nine judges,” she said. Explaining what had prompted her to join the ‘Say no to Aadhaar’ campaign, Menon said, “We launched it because we were concerned that Aadhaar is a surveillance mechanism packaged as a welfare measure. The government’s claim was that Aadhaar was launched to control corruption, and ensure that the real beneficiaries get their dues. I have been working with several communities. I know the barriers that the poor faces. Proving their identity has never been the real battle for the poor. The real problem is corruption in the system,” she said.The SC verdict affirming the right to privacy as a fundamental right marks a new beginning in the country, Menon said. “Privacy has become a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution. The judgment states that this is an intrinsic right that is an essential component of the right to life. This means that it cannot be tampered with even by Parliament,” she said.With the right to privacy now firmly in place, Menon said, the Aadhaar case would be heard in light of this verdict.“International law and India’s domestic law have set clear standards to protect an individual’s privacy from unlawful invasion. What many people don’t know is that the government was trying to use the personal and household data collected through the Census 2010 and link it to a separate database, the National Population Register. It is proposed to make this information available to Unique Identification Authority of India. This is in contravention of Section 15 of the Census Act, which categorically states that information given is neither open to inspection nor admissible in evidence,” she said.All Aadhaar cases, according to Menon, will now be heard by three-judge bench when the court resumes next week. “The court should end the Aadhaar project. As an immediate measure, it should be delinked from all welfare schemes,” she added.