Karnataka HC Rejects Police Request to Match Dead Woman’s Fingerprints With Aadhaar Data

The Karnataka High Court has refused a plea by the Bengaluru Police to identify a deceased woman by comparing her fingerprints with the Aadhaar database.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj explained that Aadhaar authentication is built to work only with live fingerprints, and post-mortem impressions cannot be processed under the UIDAI’s biometric system.

The Court said it would be neither legally permissible nor technologically feasible to direct UIDAI to attempt such verification.

Police were told to use other lawful methods to establish the woman’s identity, noting that Aadhaar-based checks apply only to living individuals.

[State of Karnataka v Ministry of Electronics & Information & Anr.]