The deadline for Aadhaar linking has been extended to March 31, 2018
The Supreme Court on Friday extended the Aadhaar linking deadline to March 31, 2018 after the Centre offered to extend the deadline from December 31, 2017. Chief Justice Dipak Misra however said that those who do not have an Aadhaar number would have to furnish their Aadhaar enrollment numbers for opening new bank accounts.The deadline for linking insurance policies and mutual fund holdings and also mobile phones to Aadhaar will be extended to March 31, 2018.
The Supreme Court is hearing a host of petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act. The next hearing is scheduled on January 17, 2018.
Here are the live updates of Aadhaar hearing in the Supreme Court:
Attorney General VV Venugopal had also committed that no strict action would be taken against those willing to enrol for Aadhaar by the new deadline of March 31.
Bank accounts opened after 1 June 2017, Aadhaar, Permanent Account Number or PAN will have to be submitted within six months of opening or by 31 March 2018 -- the later date will be the deadline.
Shyam Dhivan, who was representing the petitioners, told the judges that the Supreme Court's earlier order specifically said Aadhaar is voluntary and not compulsory but the Government made it mandatory. HIV patients are denied treatment for want of Aadhaar, he said.
A law pushed through the parliament last year had given the government power to make Aadhaar mandatory for accessing any service -- including board exams, scholarships and higher education by the education boards and the University Grants Commission and train and bus travel.
The petitioners challenging the validity of the 12-digit Unique Identification Number claim that Aadhaar violates the Right to Privacy, which has recently been recognized by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right. They have also protested against making Aadhaar mandatory for 139 schemes when the Supreme Court had passed an order for only six.
The court also ruled that those opening new bank accounts with the enrollment number, should acquire the Aadhaar card by March 31.
A five-member constitution bench of the Supreme Court is analysing if Aadhar linking is infringing on individual privacy rights and is set to have a hearing on its constitutional validity on January 17, 2018.
Several petitioners had challenged the validity of Aadhaar claiming it violated the fundamental right of Right to Privacy.
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General Rajan Mathews expressed relief at the extended deadline as the earlier deadline came with challenges of heavy volume.
In an interim order, Chief Justice Dipak Misra modified the February 6 deadline for mobile linking to Aadhaar till March 31.