Aadhaar: SC gives relief, extends linking deadline

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended until further orders the deadline for Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts and all schemes of ministries/departments of the Central and state governments, except for availing of benefits and subsidies. As a result, Aadhaar will not be mandatory for these services. The earlier deadline was March 31.

The court also extended the date to complete linkage of Aadhaar and E-KYC process for mobile phone subscribers till the judgment was pronounced in the case.

A five-judge Constitu-tion Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Kanwil-kar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan made it clear that its earlier interim order passed on December 15, 2017 extending the time limit will remain in force till a judgment was pronounced. The bench said it may not be possible to decide by March 31 the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act.

The bench had earlier said since the matter would have implications on financial institutions, like banks and stockmarkets, it would create a huge compliance issue if the deadline was extended at the last moment. The bench has been hearing arguments from January 17 on the validity of linkage of Aadhaar.

When advocate Vrinda Grover brought to the court’s notice that new rules were issued to make Aadhaar mandatory to get passports under the Tatkal scheme, the court said the new rules would not be applicable for passports under Tatkal as any one of the other identity documents could be used till the judgment is rendered.

Senior counsel Arvind P. Datar informed the court that Ms Grover’s passport has been cancelled though it is valid till 2020 as only an additional booklet was needed.

She was to travel to Bangladesh to participate in a conference, and in the absence of Aadhaar she could not get her passport.

Passing interim orders on several petitions challenging the validity of the Aadhaar law, the bench said: “Insofar as new bank accounts are concerned, the bench extended the deadline till March 31, subject to the submission of the details in regard to the filing of an application for an Aadhaar card and furnishing of the application number to the account opening bank.”

The court made it clear that the extension of time limit beyond March 31, 2018 shall apply for Aadhaar linkage, besides the schemes of ministries/departments of the Centre and all state governments in similar terms.

Regarding linking of PAN card with Aadhaar, the bench clarified that insofar as the provisions of Section 139AA of the Income-Tax Act 1961 are concerned, the matter stands governed by the court’s judgment upholding the provision.

The petitioners, including former Karnataka high court judge K.S. Puttasamy, argued that Aadhaar cards could permissibly be utilised only for six schemes as approved by the Constitution Bench in earlier orders. They wanted the court to direct the Centre to strictly follow these orders. Further, they insisted that the Aadhaar card scheme was to be purely voluntary and could not be made mandatory until this court finally decides the matter. Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal said Aadhaar will be essential for availing social security benefits, services and subsidies, and the bench therefore granted exemption for these benefits.