Aadhaar bench to start hearings this week

NEW DELHI : A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra will begin hearing from Wednesday petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar, said a Supreme Court registry notice issued on Sunday.

The notice does not specify the composition of the benches. However, the other four members are likely to be justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan as these judges were part of the bench that had, on December 15 last year, extended the deadline for Aadhaar linkage with mobile phone services and opening of new bank accounts to March 31, 2018.

The court has allowed people to apply for new bank accounts by

submitting the application number for Aadhaar, but has made it mandatory for them to furnish the 12-digit biometric number to the banks by March 31.

Sunday’s registry notice also lists three more cases to be heard

by the constitution bench.

These include petitions against Indian Penal Code provision that makes adultery an offence against a man but not a woman, Section 377 of the IPC that criminalises homosexuality, and ban on the entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age in Kerala’s Sabrimala temple.

The bench will also hear a case filed by two Parsi women who have questioned the Gujarat high court’s verdict that holds a woman as having lost her religious identity after marrying a man belonging to another religion. Among other contentious matters to be taken up includes a petition that raises a question as to when does a lawmaker facing criminal trial stand disqualified.

The notice doesn’t specify if the bench hearing Aadhaar petitions will hear other cases, too.

As per practice and convention, once the bench is notified, it does not change unless a fresh notice is issued. Hence, it is possible that the same composition will continue to hear all the cases.