MUMBAI, July 22 -- The Bombay high court on Monday imposed a compensation of Rs.10,000 each on Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Gujarat chief commissioner, the chief commissioner of income tax (Mumbai), Union Bank of India, and the Gujarat commissioner of state tax for not responding effectively to the concerns of a petitioner whose identity was misused by frauds for running a shell company in Gujarat. Calling it a "very sad state of affairs", the court pulled up the authorities over their inaction in the identity theft case. The incident dates back to 2019, when the petitioner, Vilas Prabhakar Lad, 51, who runs a provisional store in the city, received a notice in December for not paying rent for a property in Rajkot, Gujarat, used by a company named Metro International Trading. Denying any connection with the company, Lad approached the Dadar police in January 2020 and learnt that his identity had been misused by unidentified individuals in Gujarat and that there was a case registered against him. In March 2020, Lad approached the UIDAI and the GST authorities for the cancellation of Aadhaar card number and GST number issued under his name, but no action was taken, he claimed. He continued to receive notices from the Ahmedabad magistrate and the commissioner of state tax, Gujarat, for various defaults, prompting Lad to approach the Bombay high court. Lad also informed the Andhra Bank in Ahmedabad that he does not hold any account with them. In December 2020, the Union Bank of India (after the merger with Andhra Bank) informed Lad that his original documents were submitted under the company's name, with a different photograph. Advocate Uday Warunjikar, appearing for Lad, submitted that the authorities have failed to failed to take necessary measures to ensure confidentiality of identity information and, therefore, he is entitled to compensation and sought action against the fraud. Advocate Jitendra B Mishra, representing UIDAI, argued that they have cooperated with Lad by deactivating his Aadhaar number and said that the bank was supposed to carry out the authentication, which they have failed to do Advocate Jitendra B Mishra, representing UIDAI, submitted that they have cooperated with Lad by deactivating his Aadhaar number and that the bank was supposed to carry out the authentication, which they have failed to do. The division bench of justices M. S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain observed that the statutory and government authorities stood motionless for five years. "There has been a total failure on the part of the authorities by not filing an FIR or setting the criminal proceedings in motion", the court said. The court directed the GST authorities to delete Lad's Aadhaar and PAN number from its portal and imposed a compensation of Rs.10,000, each on UIDAI, Gujarat chief commissioner, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Mumbai), Union Bank of India, and Gujarat Commissioner of State Tax, to be paid to Lad for not performing their duties and not initiating any criminal proceedings till date....