Was your child ever asked to provide their Aadhaar number to the school for creating a “student ID”? If yes, don’t assume it is compulsory or that questioning it would cost your child’s admission or exam registration. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India confirmed on 20th July, 2026, that a parent always has the right to refuse, and directed the government to make such right explicit on paper.[1]
APAAR Explained: Purpose, Scope and Significance
The Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) is a “One Nation, One Student ID” system introduced by the Ministry of Education, in coordination with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, created as part of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.[2]
Under this system, a 12-digit identifier is assigned to each student, which is linked to their Aadhaar number. Through such linkage, the government intends to maintain lifelong records of academic achievements and credentials of the student. For the creation of such an ID, the parents have to sign a “model consent form” provided by the schools, which permits the sharing of the child’s Aadhaar number and demographic details with the Ministry.
However, the problem began when digital-rights researchers started to identify that while the form disclosed what information would be shared with which entities, it didn’t provide any option for the parents to refuse.[3] This gap was flagged in 2023, which warned that parents unfamiliar with such data-protection concepts may sign without having knowledge of what they are consenting to. Tensions arose when the Central Board of Secondary Education declared APAAR generation mandatory for registering students of classes IX to XII for board examinations from the academic session of 2026.[4] For many families, the formality of “consent” was connected with the fear of losing their child’s seat in the board examinations if they didn’t enrol.[5]
The First Courtroom Challenge: Odisha
Initially, this mandatory requirement was challenged in the Odisha High Court, which pointed out that the absence of an opt-out mechanism undermined the very essence of consent, i.e., voluntariness. On 12th December 2025, a favourable order was passed that directed the state authorities to consider amending the model consent form and expressly include an option to refuse.[6] However, this order was only confined to Odisha, while the issue of illusory consent was yet to be challenged by the parents of other states.
Judicial Intervention by the Supreme Court
Finally, a fresh writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India was filed on 13th July, 2026, challenging the same issue.[7] The Petitioners argued that the scheme is meant to enable long-term tracking and profiling of children’s educational lives, serving as a State-run surveillance mechanism. Several inadequacies of the original consent form were pointed out, such as the absence of a genuine choice to decline, plus no clear explanation of the purpose, scope, retention period, or data-sharing practices attached to the information being collected.
The argument was anchored in constitutional doctrine. It was argued that this case was closely related to the earlier nine-judge bench ruling of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v Union of India, 2017, where it was held that informational privacy, or the right to control the dissemination of one’s personal information, is intrinsic to the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21. In the event that any State action had to curtail this right, it would only be possible if it passed the 4-part test of legality, legitimate aim, necessity, and proportionality. Accordingly, APAAR in its current form had failed this test. In fact, Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v Union of India, 2017, itself involved a decision on the Aadhaar Act itself where it was held that there is no compelling State interest to make Aadhaar mandatory for children and that a child’s right to education cannot be made dependent on having an Aadhaar number. Moreover, the children could be included in the Aadhaar framework only with their parent’s consent, and would have the independent option to exit the scheme upon attaining majority.
Hence, where the APAAR consent form did not provide an option to refuse consent, alongside CBSE’s mandatory requirement of APAAR for examinations, it arguably ran contrary to the spirit of these findings, despite not directly involving Aadhaar enrolment.
The Supreme Court’s Key Directions
On 20th July, 2026, instead of striking down the APAAR scheme itself, the Court relied upon the Odisha High Court’s reasoning. It held that the condition of expressly providing parents or guardians an option to withhold or refuse consent in the model consent form shall now be given effect on a pan-India basis. While making this state-specific direction into a nationwide mandate, the Court reasoned that such a safeguard was essential to ensure that consent was actually meaningful and informed.
Further, it was held that:
- All collection, processing, storage, retention and sharing of personal data under the APAAR Scheme must strictly comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, including the obligations of data fiduciaries to ensure lawful, secure and purpose-limited use of personal data.
- Personal information collected under APAAR cannot be disclosed, shared or made available to any private entity or third party, except as permitted by law and strictly for authorised purposes.
- Sharing APAAR information beyond the scope of the Scheme or for unrelated purposes is impermissible.
What the Ruling Means for Parents
The practical consequences of this judgement are three-fold:
- The consent form given by your child’s school must now include a clear option to refuse consent
- No school or Board can legally deny your child’s admission, examination, registration, mark sheets, or certificates solely based on non-enrolment in APAAR.
- If any data has been collected under this scheme, it cannot be handed over to any private company or unrelated third party except strictly as permitted by law.
Abhishek Baxi v Union of India, 2026, does not abolish APAAR but reinforces a basic principle that consent that offers no real option to refuse is not consent at all. However, since the respondents retain the liberty to seek clarification from the court, the exact process of implementation and monitoring of compliance across schools nationwide remains to be determined.
[1] Ritu, ‘Parents Get the Right to Refuse: SC Directs APAAR Consent Form to Include Opt-Out Option; Restricts Disclosure of Student Data Beyond Lawful Purposes’ (SCC Times, 27 July 2026) <https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/07/27/sc-directs-opt-out-option-in-apaar-consent-form/> accessed 2 September 2026.
[2] ‘India.Gov.in | National Portal India: Where Government Information Converges’ (India.gov.in) <https://india.gov.in> accessed 2 September 2026.
[3] ‘APAAR ID Explained: What Every Parent Should Know’ (Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), 3 December 2024) <https://internetfreedom.in/apaar-id-explained-what-every-parent-should-know/> accessed 2 September 2026.
[4] ‘APAAR ID Mandatory for CBSE Board Exams 2026; Exam Fee Hiked and AI-Powered Centre Coming – Times of India’ <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/apaar-id-mandatory-for-cbse-board-exams-2026-exam-fee-hiked-and-ai-powered-centre-coming/articleshow/123214402.cms> accessed 2 September 2026.
[5] ‘CBSE Making APAAR Mandatory for Registration Sparks Debate’ <https://theprint.in/india/education/why-cbse-making-apaar-mandatory-for-board-exam-registration-has-sparked-privacy-debate/2721468/> accessed 2 September 2026.
[6] Rohit Anand Das vs State Of Odisha, 2025.
[7] Abhishek Baxi v Union of India, WP (C) No 832 of 2026
