The issue of mandatory linkage of Aadhaar with a host of Government schemes and benefits — the last date for which is June 30 — will face judicial scrutiny on June 27, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
A slew of notifications issued by Centre had required citizens to link their Aadhaar with all major schemes, benefits and policies under Central Government without which they would be disentitled to receive benefits after July 1.
A petition filed by child rights expert Shanta Sinha and gender rights activist Kalyan Menon Sen that questioned these notifications was taken up for hearing by a Vacation Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Navin Sinha.
The Bench deferred the hearing to June 27 after it came to know that other applications seeking similar relief against similar decisions of the Government in the past were pending in Court. The Bench directed the Supreme Court Registry to list all the applications on June 27 to avoid "multiplicity" of decisions on the same issue.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, however, objected to hearing of the case as in his opinion any order to stay the notifications had to go before a Constitution Bench since the challenge to the Aadhaar Act 2016 and the Aadhaar programme in general is pending consideration before a five-judge Constitution Bench. Even in the past, he pointed out, when the Centre sought a modification to extend linkage of Aadhaar with a slew of schemes, a Constitution Bench heard the application and passed orders on October 15, 2015.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, who appeared for the petitioner said the Government was shying away from the problem as the matter needed urgent hearing due to the deadline of June 30 fast approaching. The notifications, he added, were a blatant violation of Court's repeated orders not to make Aadhaar mandatory for any service, benefits or service under the Central Government.
Although the bench remarked, "You (Centre) are breaching the earlier orders passed by three-judge and five-judge bench," A-G defended the notifications claiming it was issued after the Act came in while the undertaking given to Court were prior to the Act.