Is APAAR ID Mandatory? We Asked the Supreme Court of India

Is APAAR ID mandatory for your child? No. By its order dated 20 July 2026, the Supreme Court of India has directed that the APAAR consent form must expressly give every parent in India an option to withhold or refuse consent. Consent must be meaningful and informed, not a formality on a form that has no place to say no. I am one of the four parents who filed the petition before the Supreme Court, supported by SFLC.in. There is one grey area around CBSE board exam registration and I will be honest about it below.

This post is the full story. You will find the school email that started this for me, the RTI reply from the Ministry of Education, what we argued in court, what the Court actually said in simple words and a copy of the order that you can download and carry to your school. Note: I am not a lawyer. This is written from my experience as a parent and as a petitioner in this case.

The email from my son’s school

In February 2025, my son’s school sent an email to all parents titled Consent Form for APAAR ID generation. It said the department of education was generating a unique student ID called APAAR for all students in India as part of the One Nation, One Student ID programme. Then came this line: “This is a mandated requirement by the department of education.” Parents were given six days to sign the consent form and return it with the required documents.

Read that line again. A consent form for a mandated requirement. If something is mandated, why is my consent needed? And if my consent is needed, how is it mandated? I had seen this movie before. When the Karnataka government rolled out the so called SATS ID, I had denied consent and nothing happened to my son’s education. So I did not sign this form either. I never sign such applications blindly and I wrote back within twenty minutes.

My reply was short. This is not mandatory by law. Your attached consent form itself says it is voluntary, so I will not be providing consent. I attached the Government’s RTI reply saying APAAR has not been made mandatory and offered to speak directly to any government officer who was pressuring the school, or raise formal grievances with the Government myself.

The school’s response, an hour later, was refreshingly honest. They admitted that this has not been mandatory although the government states it as mandatory. They mentioned there was an ongoing battle in court about it. They confirmed that the Department of Education has been putting pressure on all the schools to get this completed. They even said they would use my email as the consent response to the DoE.

I appreciate my son’s school for that honesty. They accepted my refusal and that was the end of it for us. His education carried on exactly as before. But we were the lucky ones. Most schools were not this reasonable. Parents in other schools were being coerced and forced into enrolling, with APAAR treated as just another compulsory form during admissions and board registrations. Most schools simply pass the pressure downwards and most parents sign immediately, not because they have weighed the privacy trade off, but because nobody wants their child to be the exception. That is exactly how a voluntary scheme quietly becomes mandatory in practice.

What the Government said through RTI

Here I must give credit where it is due. The RTI was not mine. Another good samaritan parent had filed an RTI application with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, asking one simple question: is APAAR ID mandatory for school children? They shared the reply publicly so that any parent could use it. The reply to RTI application no. DOSEL/R/T/24/01411, received in December 2024, said three things in plain words.

One, APAAR ID has not been made mandatory by the central government for any child in any kind of school. Two, it is being created only with the consent of the parent or guardian. Three, there will be no adverse consequences for students who refuse to give consent. The reply then added a line worth noticing: schools may form their own guidelines or policies regarding implementation of APAAR ID in their school.

That last line is the loophole through which the pressure flows. The centre says voluntary on paper. Education departments then set enrolment targets, schools feel the heat over recognition and funding and parents receive emails calling it a mandated requirement. Consent gets reduced to a signature collected under a deadline. The reply did not age well either. Months after the Government put voluntary in writing, CBSE issued circulars making APAAR a precondition for board exam registration. That contradiction is what took us to court.

What is APAAR ID?

APAAR stands for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry. It is part of the Government’s One Nation, One Student ID programme under the National Education Policy 2020. It creates a 12 digit, lifelong digital academic identity for every student, linked to Aadhaar, designed to hold your child’s personal and academic records in one consolidated repository from school enrolment through their entire educational journey.

On paper the goals sound useful. Seamless transfer of records when a student changes schools or states and academic credit mobility through the Academic Bank of Credits. In practice it means a single Aadhaar linked file on your child that grows for life, created at an age when the child has no say in it. Whether the State should maintain such a file on every child and whether the scheme has adequate safeguards are exactly the questions we took to court.

Why we did not enrol our children

People ask me why we refused when everyone else signed. Here is our reasoning, as one parent to another.

First, there is no real benefit today for a school going child. Students changed schools and states long before APAAR existed and their records moved with them. The conveniences being promised can be built without putting a lifelong Aadhaar linked ID on every child. Second, the Supreme Court has already ruled that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for education. Linking a child’s entire academic life to Aadhaar through the back door of a school consent form sits uncomfortably with that ruling.

Third, this is a lifelong record created at an age when the child has no say in it. My son can create his own digital academic identity when he is old enough to understand what it means. That choice should be his, not mine and certainly not a school’s. Fourth, nobody could tell us how long the data is kept, who it can be shared with or how to undo an APAAR ID once created. Ask your school these three questions before signing and see how far you get.

And finally, the pattern. SATS ID, APAAR ID and whatever ID comes next. Every new scheme arrives as voluntary, gets pushed through schools as compulsory and becomes the default before anyone has asked the hard questions. Refusing is not about being difficult. It is the only way consent stays real. This is our reasoning, not legal advice. Read, question and decide for yourself. That is all we ever asked the Court for: a genuine option to decide.

Why we went to the Supreme Court of India

Four of us, all parents of children studying in CBSE affiliated schools, filed a writ petition in May 2026 under Article 32 of the Constitution: Abhishek Baxi, myself, Vasundhar Boddapati and Neeraj Jakhar. The petition was Abhishek Baxi & Ors v. Union of India & Ors, W.P.(C) No. 832 of 2026. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising argued the matter with Advocate on Record Paras Nath Singh. The Software Freedom Law Center, India (SFLC.in) supported us parents through the entire process. The respondents were the Union of India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, UIDAI and CBSE.

Two developments pushed us to the Court. First, CBSE issued circulars dated 5 August 2025 and 27 August 2025 making APAAR ID a mandatory precondition for registering students of Classes IX to XII for board examinations from the 2026 academic session. Second, the consent form itself. The Ministry of Education’s circular of October 2023 makes parental consent a prerequisite for generating an APAAR ID, yet the prescribed form gave parents no option to decline and did not disclose the purpose, scope, retention period or data sharing practices for the information collected.

The matter was heard on 20 July 2026 by a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana.

What we argued and what the Court said

SFLC.in has published a lawyer’s explainer of the order. Here is the same breakdown in a parent’s words, contention by contention.

1. APAAR enables lifelong tracking and profiling of children

We argued that an Aadhaar linked, lifelong academic record allows the State to continuously track, profile and monitor a child’s educational journey, raising serious concerns of informational privacy. Many of us had already told our schools in writing that we do not consent. The Court recorded this concern but did not give a finding on whether APAAR amounts to surveillance. That larger question remains open.

2. The consent process is not genuine

We argued that the Government’s own policy requires parental consent, yet the consent form gives no option to refuse and explains nothing about why the data is collected, how long it is retained or who it is shared with. The Court accepted this concern. It adopted the approach of the Orissa High Court in Rohit Anand Das v. State of Odisha and directed that the model consent form be amended to expressly provide parents and guardians an option to withhold or refuse consent. The Court called this safeguard essential for consent to be “meaningful and informed” and directed that it be implemented on a pan India basis. This is the heart of the order.

3. APAAR is voluntary on paper, compulsory in practice

We argued that schools were compelling enrolment by threatening denial of admission and board examination registration, while schools themselves faced pressure over recognition and funding if targets were not met. The email from my son’s school admitting DoE pressure is a live example. The Court strengthened the consent mechanism as above. However, it did not issue any specific direction restraining schools from denying admission or board registration to children whose parents refuse. I want to be honest about that gap because you should know exactly where things stand.

4. The Scheme violates the right to privacy

We argued that APAAR fails the tests of legality, legitimate aim, necessity and proportionality laid down in the Puttaswamy judgment. The Court did not examine these constitutional arguments in this order. The order neither upholds nor strikes down the APAAR Scheme.

5. The data could be misused or shared

On the fear of misuse, the Court said the concerns are “misconceived”, for a specific reason. Even though APAAR is only an administrative scheme, every bit of collection, storage, processing and sharing of personal data under it must strictly comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The Court also clarified that personal information collected under APAAR cannot be disclosed or shared with any private entity or third party except in accordance with law and only for authorised purposes.

So is APAAR ID mandatory after this order?

No. The position after 20 July 2026 is this. Participation in APAAR requires your consent. The consent form itself must give you a clear, express option to refuse. That requirement applies across India, to every school and every board implementing the scheme. A school can no longer hand you a form that has no place to say no and call it consent.

At the same time, the Court has not struck down APAAR and has not decided the constitutional challenge. Our petition was disposed of with these directions. Since the respondents were not heard at this stage, they have liberty to seek clarification from the Court. So this is a partial but meaningful win on procedure, not the end of the road. For a parent standing in a school office today, the most useful line from the order is simple: consent must be meaningful and informed and you must have the option to refuse it.

What you can do as a parent

1. Ask for it in writing. If your school says APAAR is mandatory, ask them to share the government order that makes it so. In my experience the tone changes the moment you ask for documents instead of arguing on the phone. This approach has worked for me even with large banks.
2. Refuse in writing if you wish to refuse. Email works better than a verbal no. Keep a copy. My entire exchange with the school took exactly one hour over email.
3. Carry the documents. Share the RTI reply and the Supreme Court order with the school. The order is linked in this post and the RTI reply is visible in my email exchange above. Most school administrators have never seen either.
4. Check whether an ID already exists. Ask the school in writing whether an APAAR ID has already been generated for your child and on what basis. If it was created without your consent, object in writing and raise the issue with the school management and the education department. The DPDP Act, 2023 now governs this data.
5. Talk to other parents. The pressure works because each parent thinks they are the only one refusing. You are not.

Download the Supreme Court order

This copy is hosted on this website so it is always one click away. The original is published on the Supreme Court of India website. For a clause by clause legal reading, SFLC.in’s explainer of the order is worth your time.

Thank you

Only a few organisations in this country work on defending our digital freedoms. SFLC.in stood with us parents through this entire journey and their explainer of the order is the backbone of the breakdown above. My sincere thanks to Mishi Choudhary, Prasanth Sugathan and the entire SFLC.in team and to Senior Advocate Indira Jaising and Advocate on Record Paras Nath Singh who argued the matter before the Court.

A special thanks to Abhishek Baxi for taking the lead on the petition and to co-petitioner Vasundhar Boddapati for connecting me with the other petitioners. Four parents from different corners of the country ended up on the same cause list because one of us kept joining the dots. That is how citizen action actually works.

FAQ on APAAR ID

Is APAAR ID mandatory for school admission?

No. The Government’s RTI reply states that APAAR has not been made mandatory by the central government for any child in any kind of school and that there will be no adverse consequences for refusing consent. If a school links admission to APAAR, ask them in writing to cite the rule that permits it.

Is APAAR ID mandatory for CBSE board exams?

CBSE circulars of August 2025 made APAAR a precondition for registering Classes IX to XII students for board examinations from the 2026 session. This was one of the measures we challenged. The Supreme Court’s order requires that you get a genuine option to refuse consent, but it did not specifically restrain CBSE or schools from insisting on APAAR for board registration. If your school insists, ask for the requirement in writing, show them the order and raise a grievance with CBSE and your education department.

Can I refuse to give consent for APAAR ID?

Yes. Consent of the parent or guardian is a prerequisite for generating an APAAR ID and the Supreme Court has directed that the consent form must expressly provide an option to withhold or refuse consent, across India. Refuse in writing and keep a copy of your email or letter.

Is APAAR ID linked to Aadhaar?

Yes. APAAR is an Aadhaar linked identifier and furnishing Aadhaar details is part of the registration process. This linkage for children’s education, despite the Puttaswamy judgment holding that Aadhaar cannot be mandatory for education, is one of our core grievances in the petition.

What happens to the data already collected under APAAR?

The Supreme Court has clarified that all collection, storage, processing and sharing of personal data under APAAR must strictly comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and that the data cannot be shared with any private entity or third party except in accordance with law and for authorised purposes.

Should I enrol my child for APAAR ID?

That is your call to make and after this order the consent form must let you make it. Our family’s reasons for refusing are in this post. Whatever you decide, make it an informed decision. Ask the school what data is collected, how long it is kept and who it is shared with, before you sign.

Where can I read the Supreme Court order on APAAR?

You can download the order dated 20 July 2026 in Abhishek Baxi & Ors v. Union of India & Ors from this website or from the Supreme Court of India website.

Over to you

Litigation alone does not fix complacency. Public scrutiny does. Most parents affected by APAAR have never raised a grievance and awareness is the first step towards asking schools and policymakers the right questions before the next ID rolls out.

Did your school also tell you APAAR is a mandated requirement? Did you sign, refuse or push back? Do comment on the post with your experience. If you know a parent who is being pressured this admission season, share this post with them along with the order. And the next time anyone asks is APAAR ID mandatory, point them here.