BANGALORE: A suit filed in a city civil court in Bangalore feels Aadhaar, the mega Unique Identification project of the central government, is illegal.

Missile scientist Mathew Thomas and social activist V K Somashekar jointly filed this suit.The chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India and chairperson of Planning Commission of India are defendants in the suit.

The plaintiffs contend that the scheme was designed for the benefit of few private companies and without any serious study. "There are complaints of large-scale violations of these 'contracts of enrollment'. The private companies which are enrolling agencies employ temporary workers on a contract basis. Their antecedents are unknown. This is a risk to both the nation and the people. They are implementing the UID project in an absolutely irresponsible manner. They have deliberately compromised the rights of the people. The plaintiffs are extremely concerned with the way the defendants are abusing their position and powers, spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money. Continuing with Aadhaar is against the interest of citizens of India. The said scheme is in violation of all known civil rights and a disempowering mechanism. It is against all accepted norms of rule of law and fundamental rights, guaranteed under the Constitution of India", the suit claimed.

The plaintiffs further claim that the Aadhaar scheme has been illegally designed without any semblance of a statutory right with the officials and other interested parties, who are by and large private companies having substantial investments in software technologies. "The purpose of issuing a number to every resident of India is a dangerous design and is being issued with a mala fide intention of enabling surveillance of the people, commercial exploitation of demographic data, unjust enrichment of some individuals, national and transnational agencies, bureaucrats, national and transnational monetary agencies, financial institutions, insurance based institutions, communication companies, imaging companies, vested societies and organizations of dubious background all at the cost of taxpayer's money," the suit claimed.

The plaintiffs also feel the authorities have not conducted any serious study on feasibility, implications and pitfalls of the scheme. "There are serious lacunae in the process of issuing the Aadhaar number to every resident. The authorities have not given any serious thought on the issues of personal liberty, right to privacy and various other issues of citizens of India. They have made tall claims of utility of Aadhaar. The process raises dangerous issues of possibility of compromising rights of citizens of India and possibility of the whole process being one made to facilitate state surveillance of people, enrich already rich national and transnational corporate agencies like Wipro, HCL, Infosys," the plaintiffs claimed while seeking an injunction order.