Aadhaar judgement historic, Congress has cut a sorry figure: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's Aadhaar verdict and said the opposition Congress has cut "a very sorry figure" after the apex court upheld the core of national biometric ID programme.

He said that Aadhaar helped in saving Rs 90,000 crore every year by plugging leakages in welfare schemes.

"The Congress party cuts a very sorry figure. They introduced the idea and then did not know what to do with it. The version they had drafted was there shall be an Aadhaar Card. This is a procedure which it shall be issued, what it will be used for was unclear from the beginning. Now you do not need an Aadhaar card which is not to be used for a particular purpose," he said.

It is a historic judgement, said Jaitley.

He also alleged that the Congress party, when it was in power, brought in the ID programme without any legislative backing and without specifying what it was meant for.

Stating that he has not read the full judgement, Jaitley said his understanding of the verdict is that the Supreme Court has barred usage of 12-digit unique identification number by private entities like mobile phone firms in absence of a legislative backing for that.

While upholding the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, the Supreme Court struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts and mobile phones.