AADHAAR STAYS, BUT RIDERS INCLUDED

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, in a majority verdict, held that the Aadhaar is constitutionally valid, but made it clear that a person’s rights cannot be denied on the ground of lack of the unique ID.

A Constitution Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M.Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan by a majority of 4:1 in a 1,448 judgment upheld linking of PAN with Aadhaar, and made it must for filing income tax returns and for receiving benefits.

But it set aside linking Aadhaar to bank accounts and mobile phone numbers.

It struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act as “unconstitutional”. This means that no company or private entity can seek Aadhaar identification.

Further the authentication done by private parties while verifying Aadhaar could not be stored by the UIDAI beyond six months, as the existing time limit of five years.

But the question arises as to what happens to the Aadhaar details that Indians have already given to phone companies and banks? DECISIONS UNDER THE JUDGEMENT

The Aadhaar Case hearings ran for 38 days making it second-longest hearing in India’s judicial history.

The provision under the Aadhaar Act which prevented individuals from filing cases was removed

Section 33(2), which permits the disclosure of Aadhaar data for national security issues was also struck down

Aadhaar IDs will not be mandatory for children to avail of midday meals or admission to public schools

No person can be denied any government benefits on grounds of having or not having Aadhaar. SERVICES AADHAAR IS MANDATORY Key for availing benefits under the Central and state government welfare schemes (PDS, LPG, MGNREGA) and for subsidies. Compulsory to link Aadhaar to a person’s permanent account number (PAN) and for filing of income-tax returns.

AADHAAR NOT MANDATORY

Need not be linked with bank accounts and mobile phone numbers. This will be tough to enforce, as bank accounts need permanent account number (PAN), which has to be linked with Aadhaar. School admissions and enrolling in UGC and CBSE exams.

Curbs put in place on its use by private companies—including payment banks, fintech firms—that relied on Aadhaar for digital authentication.

Private firms/websites selling air, train, rail and movie tickets cannot insist on Aadhaar any more.