The July 20 order which was made available on Saturday said, “Having considered the attending circumstances and the submissions advanced on behalf of the petitioners, we are inclined to adopt the approach taken by the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack in Rohit Anand Das vs State of Odisha…wherein the state authorities were directed to consider suitably amending the model consent form prescribed under the APAAR Scheme so as to expressly provide an option enabling parents or guardians to withhold or refuse consent.”

The bench said it is “of the considered view that such a safeguard is essential to ensure that the requirement of consent is meaningful and informed. Accordingly, we direct that the directions contained in paragraph 19 of the aforesaid judgment shall be given effect to on a pan-India basis by the concerned authorities implementing the APAAR Scheme”.

Paragraph 19 of the December 12, 2025 judgment of the Orissa HC asked authorities “to consider amendment of the model consent form to include an opt out/refusal of consent option therein”.

The SC order came on petitions by some parents challenging the constitutional validity of the scheme.

The petitioners contended that the scheme “effectively operates as a State-run surveillance mechanism within the education sector by enabling the long-term tracking, profiling and monitoring of children’s educational trajectories”. They said that “the extensive collection and retention of such data creates the potential for its use beyond the educational sphere, thereby raising serious concerns relating to informational privacy and data protection”.

The court also termed “misconceived” the concerns regarding the possible misuse of the personal information of those who voluntarily opted to enroll under the APAAR Scheme. “Merely because the collection of such information is undertaken pursuant to an administrative scheme and not under a statutory mandate does not absolve the authorities of their obligations in relation to the protection of personal data,” it said.

The SC said “any collection, processing, storage, retention, sharing or use of personal information under the APAAR Scheme shall, therefore, be strictly governed by the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the obligations cast thereunder upon data fiduciaries to ensure the lawful, secure and purpose-limited processing of personal data.”