Why link Aadhaar with PAN: SC to govt

The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the Centre as to why it has enacted a law making it mandatory to link Aadhaar with PAN cards for filing I-T returns from the assessment year 2018-2019.

A bench of justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi whether such a law was the remedy to end the duplication of PAN cards.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by CPI’s Binoy Viswam, challenging the introduction of Section 139 AA in the Income-Tax Act.

When the A-G said “we brought the law as we found multiple PAN cards with the same people”, justice Sikri asked him, “Is this the remedy? Forcibly asking people to get Aadhaar cards when this court has already said Aadhaar is not mandatory.”

Mr. Rohatgi said the court had passed an order when there was no law on Aadhaar, but “now we have enacted a law and there is a legislative mandate.” He said fake PANs and ration cards have flooded markets and jinxed financial transactions. A person can get multiple PANs in the name of Mukesh Gupta, then another PAN as Mukesh Kumar Gupta and a third one as M.K. Gupta.

The A-G also said that

the court itself recently ordered that Aadhaar should be made mandatory to procure SIM cards.

Arvind Datar and Sriram Prakkat, for the petitioner, not linking Aadhaar with the PAN under the new law will make the latter invalid.

The petitioner said he did not hold an Aadhaar card on the legitimate expectation that the said scheme was not mandatory in view of the court’s orders. He said he was now being coerced into obtaining an Aadhaar card in complete violation of his right to privacy.

He said the provision of Aadhaar while PAN was still in place was enacted merely to render nugatory the larger bench reference pending before the court.

Bringing such a provision, as an amendment to the Finance Bill, falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution, he said, and prayed for quashing the provision and an interim stay on its operation.

The bench has posted the matter for final hearing on April 26.