AMN / NEW DELHI
Amid growing criticism over action by authorities over a newspaper report on Aadhaar data breach, Law and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the Government is committed to the freedom of the Press. The Minister added, the FIR has been filed against unknown entities.
In a tweet, Mr Prasad said that the Government is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security and sanctity of Aadhaar for India’s development. In the message, he said that he has suggested the Aadhaar authority, UIDAI, to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders.
The Delhi Police registered the FIR on a UIDAI official’s complaint. The police yesterday said that UIDAI Deputy Director B M Patnaik informed them that an input was received from The Tribune that it has purchased a service being offered by anonymous sellers over WhatsApp that provided
unrestricted access to details of any of the Aadhaar numbers. The FIR was registered the same day on his complaint.
The Newspaper has said it will defend its freedom to undertake investigative journalism. The Editors Guild Of India sought government intervention for the withdrawal of the case and called for an impartial investigation into the matter. Criticizing the lodging of the FIR, the guild said it was deeply concerned over reports that the reporter of The Tribune has been named in the said complaint.