Authorities must facilitate time-bound fresh Aadhaar enrollment for biometric mismatches absent fraud, providing clear written remedies and avoiding administrative uncertainty to ensure access to identity services.

ORAL JUDGMENT : (PER HITEN. S. VENEGAVKAR, J.)

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally by the consent of the parties.

2. Heard the learned Advocate appearing for the Petitioners, the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the State, and the learned Advocate appearing for Respondent Nos. 1 and 2.

3. The Petitioners, who are twin brothers, have invoked the Writ Jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction to Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to forthwith update the biometric details linked with Aadhaar Card Nos. 6123 2462 3213 and 4118 7935 0468, or, in the alternative, to issue fresh Aadhaar cards to them without further delay. The Petitioners’ case is that they were issued Aadhaar cards in the year 2012 when they were minors, after submission of the requisite documents and biometric information. According to them, when they attained the relevant age and were required to update their biometrics, they approached the concerned authorities in the year 2022 and submitted the necessary documents and biometric data. However, despite compliance on their part, the updated Aadhaar cards were not issued.

4. The Petitioners state that upon inquiry with the UIDAI helpline, they were informed that their update request had been rejected on account of mismatch in biometrics. They thereafter raised several grievances on the UIDAI portal and were ultimately asked to personally visit the Regional Office at Mumbai. The Petitioners visited the Regional Office on 23^rd April, 2024, where they were informed that their biometric update request was rejected because of biometric mismatch. They were advised to apply for cancellation of the existing Aadhaar numbers and thereafter apply for fresh enrollment. Acting upon this advice, they submitted consent forms for cancellation and waited for communication from the Respondent authorities. When no communication was received, they again visited the Regional Office on 30^th May, 2024, and were then informed that, in view of a new circular, the earlier process for cancellation had been revoked and that they would now be required to update the existing Aadhaar numbers with corrected biometrics.

5. The Petitioners contend that they thereafter consented to correction and updation of their existing Aadhaar records. They were informed that their request had been forwarded to the competent office and that necessary action would be taken. However, despite repeated personal visits on 9^th June, 2024, and 2^nd September, 2024, they were merely told that the matter was under process. According to the Petitioners, this administrative uncertainty has caused them serious prejudice. They are students pursuing higher education; Aadhaar is being insisted upon for admissions, insurance, identity verification and allied purposes. It is stated that their admissions are provisional and may be affected for want of valid Aadhaar details. Petitioner No. 2, who is pursuing sporting activity in horse riding, also requires insurance coverage, which has allegedly been withheld for want of a valid Aadhaar number.

6. Learned Advocate for the Petitioners submits