A statement was made in the Supreme Court on the instructions of the UIDAI chief that all biometrics stored in State Resident Data Hubs have been “destroyed”.

Appearing before a Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi made the statement on behalf of the UIDAI’s top officer, who was present in the courtroom. Mr. Dwivedi submitted that biometrics were now stored in the Aadhaar central database or the Central ID Repository.

Mr. Dwivedi said the Aadhaar Act of 2016 does not allow biometrics to be stored with State-level authorities. This is a precaution to prevent leakages, he said.

Meanwhile, petitioners challenging the Aadhaar Act sought an extension of the deadline for Aadhaar linkage from March 31. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium and Shyam Divan said appropriate interim orders to extend the deadline, considering the fact that the Supreme Court is still hearing the question of Aadhaar validity, should be passed in order to avoid a “last-minute scramble”.