Hyderabad: The JNTU circular asking colleges to provide Aadhaar details of students for its biometric attendance system is in violation of Supreme Court orders against the practice, education experts have alleged.

The Supreme Court on September 26 had ruled that it is not mandatory to provide Aadhaar to register or appear for Neet, UGC and CBSE exams.

The court also said Aadhaar was not needed for a range of services including cell phone SIM cards and to open bank accounts.

The JNTU has asked for the students’ Aadhaar number and a copy of the Aadhaar card.

Dr Srini Bhupalam, president, All India Federation of Self-Financing Technical Institutes, said, “The Supreme Court judgment clearly prohibited the use of Aadhaar by agencies conducting entrance examinations and in my opinion the circular issued by the JNTUH with respect to Aadhaar biometric attendance system is in direct violation of the SC order.”

Asked about this, JNTU registrar Prof. Yadaiah Yadav said “We will discuss the legal aspects with our legal experts regarding implementation of Aadhaar based biometric system. It has been implemented in many other cases as it has a unique number but we will take legal advice.”