The Supreme Court on Wednesday hinted that even as the validity of Aadhaar scheme is under challenge there should not be any difficulty to make the Unique Identification Number mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns by linking it to Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards.
With the validity of the said provision contained in Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act under challenge in two separate petitions, the Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan began hearing the arguments on Wednesday. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing one of the petitioners Binoy Viswam, a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader from Kerala, submitted that Section 139AA made Aadhaar mandatory for PAN card and IT return although the 2016 Act under which Aadhaar was introduced makes it optional.
Datar submitted that beginning 2013 when the Aadhaar scheme was challenged before Supreme Court, the Centre throughout submitted that Aadhaar is consensual and will not be forced on citizens. Though the argument there was based on privacy as to whether State can force citizens to part with their personal details, here the petitioners at the outset submitted they will not argue on privacy plea.
Instead, Datar argued that Section 139AA had introduced draconian provisions that will render all PAN cards not linked with Aadhaar number invalid after July 1, 2017. This rule will only affect individual taxpayers, who will not be able to purchase property, car, open bank account, transfer big amounts of cash, once their PAN becomes invalid. It will result in violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19(1)(g) (right to practice profession) and 21 (right to live), Datar submitted.
The Bench asked the petitioners, “If the Parliament has thought Aadhaar to be a better substitute than PAN for filing of returns, we cannot question their wisdom. What is wrong if PAN is substituted with Aadhaar.”
Datar clarified that the Act does not substitute PAN with Aadhaar but forces citizens to take Aadhaar card to validate their PAN cards. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi clarified that IT returns filed after July 1, 2017 alone will be invalidated for lack of Aadhaar authentication and the said provision will not be extended to returns filed in previous years.