NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented PowerPoint presentation to the Supreme Court , the Unique Identification Authority of India said Aadhaar makes exceptions for those who are unable to give their biometric information for any reason and blamed deaths due to denial of subsidies on corruption and other human factors. UIDAI chief executive officer Ajay Bhushan Pandey cited a death in Jharkhand to argue that although the authentication had been approved, the public distribution system dealer had asked the woman to come for rations the next day.A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is hearing several petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. The bench allowed Pandey to defend the Aadhaar system at the insistence of Attorney General KK Venugopal, an intervention the court rarely allows.Pandey claimed that personal data acquired during enrolment, including biometrics, were encrypted and couldn’t be hacked.“It would take more than the age of the universe to break one encryption,” Pandey argued. Misra couldn’t hide a smile at this claim.No third party can either store or save a person’s data during authentication, Pandey claimed. Neither can anyone access these authentication details.Pandey said exceptions could be made in Aadhaar for leprosy patients, manual labourers and other categories of people who are unable to provide biometrics because of illness or disability. Where authentication fails because of old age problems or other reasons, alternative identity proof could be used, he told the bench, which demanded an explanation for people being denied subsidy and services.He blamed cases of exclusion on corruption and other human factors. He said the attempt was to have 100% coverage.“We have tied up with hospitals so that infants can be handed over Aadhaar cards on the spot,” he said. UIADI has also tied up with anganwadi workers to issue children in anganwadi Aadhaar cards with parental consent.Pandey contended it was difficult to misuse an Aadhaar card because it has a hidden barcode that carries details of the original holder. He will continue with his presentation on Tuesday when the court resumes hearing the case again.Opening the arguments on Thursday, Venugopal said the government had spent Rs 9,000 crore on the scheme so far and much thought had gone into the process. The government was aware as far back as 2009 of the need for a law to give Aadhaar a legal leg to stand on.The bench, however, was sceptical of his claim.“Yet it took you seven years to have a law?” Justice DY Chandrachud asked. The AG then clarified that a bill was introduced in 2010 and was passed in 2016.