Supreme Court extends Aadhaar linking deadline

new delhi — The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for linking of various services with Aadhaar till it delivers its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the biometrical identification scheme.

Announcing the order, a fivejudge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however said that this extension will not affect the linking of Aadhaar with the disbursal of benefits under social welfare schemes.

The bench had earlier said that since the matter would have implications on financial institutions, like banks and stock exchange, it would create a huge problem of compliance if the deadline was extended at the last moment. The order came as senior counsel Arvind Datar, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the court that passport issuing authorities have made submission of Aadhaar mandatory for issuance of passports.

At this point, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal sought to clarify that this requirement of Aadhaar was only for issuance of tatkal passports. The court order also extended this extension to the issuance of passports.

The current deadline for linking of bank accounts, mobile phone connections, and other services with Aadhaar was March 31 and this had been extended by the top court on December 15, 2017. — IANS, PTI