A journalist who broke the story that personal records of 1.2 billion Indians could be purchased online for less than £6 has been named in a criminal complaint filed by the government agency responsible for the data.
Senior Indian journalists and national press associations criticised the complaint against Rachna Khaira as “unfair, unjustified and a direct attack on the freedom of the press”.
An investigation by Khaira in the Chandigarh-based Tribune newspaper last week claimed that access to a database containing the personal records was being sold on WhatsApp groups for about 500 rupees (£5.82).
The Unique Identification Authority of India, which collects and administers the information, said it appeared to contain “mere demographic” details and not the fingerprint and retina scans that are also part of the Aadhaar database, the largest of its kind in the world.
A UIDAI deputy director filed a complaint with police at the weekend naming Khaira and her newspaper and alleging a range of offences including forgery and cheating.
Others, including the people alleged to have sold access to the database, were also named in the complaint, which police will investigate to decide whether any criminal charges should be brought.
UIDAI denied “shooting the messenger”, arguing that it was simply naming every party involved in the incident and would leave police and the courts to determine whether any criminal acts had been committed.
“It does not mean that all those who are named in the report are necessarily guilty or being targeted,” the authority said in a statement.
Late on Monday the Indian law and IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, clarified the focus of the criminal complaint was the unknown parties who had allegedly sold Aadhaar data.
“Govt. is fully committed to freedom of press as well as maintaining security & sanctity of #Aadhaar for India’s development,” tweeted.
“[The complaint] is against unknown. I’ve suggested @UIDAI to request Tribune & it’s journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders.”
Indian courts have generally held that sting operations committed by journalists in the public interest cannot be considered criminal acts.
The Editors Guild of India said the case was “clearly meant to browbeat a journalist whose investigation on the matter was of great public interest”.
The Broadcast Editors Association also demanded that the case against the journalist be withdrawn immediately.
“Such [cases] against journalists exposing systemic flaws is a spiteful kick in the teeth of Indian democracy and the right to free speech and expression,” it said.
