Aadhaar not a must, says SC

Rules it is not compulsory for welfare benefits

The Supreme Court clarified on Monday that Aadhaar cards cannot be made mandatory by the government for extending social welfare scheme benefits, but also made it clear that the government couldn’t be barred from requiring the use of these cards, issued by UIDAI, for “non-benefit” purposes like filing of income-tax returns and opening of bank accounts.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices D.Y. Chadnrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul spelt this out when senior counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for various petitioners, brought to the court’s notice that new applications had been filed challenging the notifications by various departments making Aadhaar mandatory for the release of grants.

The Counsel said while the applications were to come up for hearing on April 3, they had been deleted from the list of cases to be heard. The CJI said the earlier order by five judges was very clear that Aadhaar can’t be made mandatory for social security schemes, but said the government was at liberty to do so for non-public welfare schemes like opening of bank accounts, etc.

He said the larger issue on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, that involves the citizen’s right to privacy, would be decided by a seven-judge bench.

The Supreme Court clarified on Monday that Aadhaar cards cannot be made mandatory by the government for extending social welfare scheme benefits. The CJI observed: “You (government) can enforce... but you can’t enforce it for extending a benefit. If somebody wants to open an account, you are free to do.” “Interim orders from time to time is not the solution. The final disposal of the matter is the solution,” the bench said.