Petition Challenging the de-facto Imposition of Aarogya Setu in Karnataka High Court

SFLC.in’s advisory board member Mr. Anivar Aravind has moved to the Karnataka High Court challenging the de-facto imposition of Aarogya Setu (the App) by the Ministry of Railways, Airports Authority of India, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. SFLC.in is assisting the team of Mr. Colin Gonsalves including Mr. Sidharth Baburao, Mr. Gangadhar J.M., and Mr. Ali Zia Kabir. The petition has listed before the court of Hon’ble Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty. 

The grounds of the Petition are: 

1. That Aarogya Setu is mandatorily imposed for all passengers by the Ministry of Railways and the Airports Authority of India (despite the MHA order on best efforts).

2. That the mandatory order by the Ministry of Railways, and the Airports Authority of India discriminates against persons who do not have a smartphone.

3.  That the mandatory imposition of Aarogya Setu affects the right to privacy of citizens as the App has access to the location of the user. 

4. That the mandatory imposition of the App restricts the right to movement of persons who do not have the App and also affects their right to carry on a profession, right to life, and right to education. 

5. That the App which has been developed by the National Informatics Center is not accessible to differently-abled population and has therefore led to the exclusion of this section of the population. 

6. That the App’s privacy policy and terms of service do not follow the principles of data minimization, purpose limitation, accountability, and transparency as enshrined in the Puttaswamy case. 

The Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court has issued a notice to the respondents to file a response by 11th June 2020. He has also asked for a copy of the statement and objections to be sent to the petitioner. The Preliminary hearing via video conferencing is to begin on 12th June 2020