The Supreme Court gave a partial relief to the Government on the implementation of the Aadhaar scheme. The court on Monday observed that while the Centre can make Aadhaar mandatory for opening a bank account, applying for PAN or filing of Income Tax returns, it cannot deny benefits under public welfare schemes to citizens for non-possession of Aadhaar cards.
The court’s observation came at a time when the Opposition has questioned the decision to link Aadhaar with daily requirements of citizens even when its validity is under challenge before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.
On Monday, senior advocate Shyam Divan requested a Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar to urgently take up the petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar as a Constitution Bench has yet not been formed to hear the matter. Divan, who appeared for one of the petitioners Justice (Retd.) KS Puttaswamy, requested the court to hear and decide the question of law as the Government was repeatedly violating the earlier orders passed by the court laying down that Aadhaar will not be mandatory for disbursing benefits under public welfare schemes.
The Bench, also comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, refused to give an assurance to hear the matter on an urgent basis. It said, “Aadhaar cannot be pressed for giving benefits under welfare schemes. But they (Government) cannot be stopped from seeking Aadhaar for non-benefit schemes like opening of bank accounts.”
The court hinted that the validity of Aadhaar has to be debated upon, but refused to give a clear date for setting up a seven-judge Bench for hearing the same. “A seven-judge Bench has to be constituted for this. At present it is not possible. There are three other matters, which are to be heard by Constitution Benches. We have already taken a call. This matter is on my mind. We will hear the matter one after the other,” the Bench said.
Divan said that in the past, the court passed orders making use of Aadhaar voluntary and not mandatory. By this, Aadhaar linkage with social welfare schemes was optional for citizens who voluntarily wish to part with their Aadhaar numbers. But recently, Divan pointed out that Aadhaar is insisted upon for issuance of driving licences, filing of I-T returns, and this amounted to contempt of the court’s orders.
The Bench added, “The interim orders passed from time to time are not the solution. The matter requires a final disposal and that alone can be the solution.”
The court reiterated that benefits of public schemes cannot be denied to any citizen for not having an Aadhaar card.
It was on October 15, 2015, the court permitted the voluntary use of Aadhaar cards in welfare schemes that included MGNREGA, lPG cylinder subsidy, public distribution system, pension schemes, provident fund schemes and the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna’ introduced by the Narendra Modi Government.
The Bench, had then said, “We make it clear that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and not mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this court.” The petitions that came to be filed in 2013 had challenged the constitution of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which runs the Aadhaar scheme and the mandate of law by which citizens were asked to part with their personal information without any assurance on its confidentiality.