A plea has been filed by Tanya Mahajan in the Bombay High Court challenging the mandatory imposition of the Aarogya Setu App in the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai. The petitioner was denied entrance on the grounds of not having the application installed on her mobile device.
Reliance was placed on the Puttaswamy judgement stating that the imposition would violate citizens’ right to privacy by lacking a legitimate state aim, failing the proportionality test and also lacking a reasonable nexus between the objective sought and the means used. The MHA order also read that installation was voluntary. A Karnataka High Court judgement was also relied on to contend that the government cannot deprive the citizens of utilities or benefits for not having the application installed.
Relief to be granted access to the Passport office along with the direction for making the use of the application voluntary has been sought. The Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Abhay Ahuja have posted the matter till 7th January, 2021 and have sought the RPO and the central government’s response.
Lawcutor 