The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the Delhi government's order making Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance mandatory for public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors and assistant public prosecutors.

The bench of Justice Amit Mahajan passed the interim order while hearing a petition filed by the Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association challenging the directive. The matter will next be heard in December.

The petition challenged an October 5 order issued by the Director of Prosecution, which required all prosecuting officers to register on the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and mark their daily attendance through the system from October 12.

The association argued that the mandatory Aadhaar authentication requirement violates the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution, is arbitrary under Article 14 and contravenes provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

The plea stated that prosecuting officers are officers of the court appointed under Sections 18 and 19 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and their presence in court is already recorded daily in judicial order sheets.

The association further submitted that it had previously challenged the attendance circulars before the High Court.

On August 17, the Court had directed the authorities to treat the petition as a representation and decide it within four weeks after granting a personal hearing. It had also granted the association liberty to approach the Court again if it remained aggrieved.

However, the association contended that the hearing took place only on September 15, after the four-week deadline had expired.

It further alleged that the Home Department rejected its representation through minutes dated September 30 without recording reasons or addressing the objections raised by its members against Aadhaar authentication.

Senior Advocates N Hariharan, Ashish Mohan and Sachhin Puri, along with advocates Kushal Kumar, Aditya Kapoor, Rishabh Saxena and Harsh Ahuja, appeared for the Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association.