Ready to extend deadline to link Aadhaar with services: Centre

NEW DELHI: The central government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it was willing to extend up to March 31 next year the deadline to link A ad ha ar with various schemes and services, including bank accounts and phone numbers. The current deadlines for linking of bank accounts and mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar,a 12- digit biometric identification number, are December 31 this year and February 6,2018 respectively.

But the court didn’t provide relief to the petitioners, who have been seeking an interim stay order on making Aadhaar mandatory for welfare schemes until all cases pertaining to linkages were resolved.

This means government agencies can continue to ask for A adhaar numbers for schemes and services. Relief, if any, may come from a Constitution bench that will be constituted next week to hear all petitions challenging Aadhaar. A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Mis ra, said only the Constitution bench will pass any interim order.

According to the Supreme Court, the Constitution bench will take up the Aadhaar case after the hearing in the DelhiCentre dispute over administra- t ive control of the national capital is over. “Let’s see next week. Let the application be listed next week,” the bench said.

Attorney g en eralKKVenug opal told the court that the government can extend the deadline to March31nextyear. Thegovernment had earlier agreed to provide extension to only those who don’t have Aadhaar. Then, on October 30, it had said the deadline will not be extended at all.

Several petitions challenging the validity of the Aadhaar law are pending in the top court.

The hearings got delayed after a larger question on the right to privacy was referred to a ninejudge bench.