Breaking: Aadhaar case to be heard by Constitution Bench in last week of November

Five years after the first petition was filed, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will finally hear the Aadhaar matter in the last week of November.

A Bench presided by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra agreed to list the case after the petitioners, the Centre and the Maharashtra government mentioned the matter today.

Attorney General KK Venugopal however, refused to extend the deadline for linking Aadhaar with mobile and banks for those who have already enrolled. Last week, the Centre expressed its willingness to extend the deadline for linking the scheme to various services for those who have not yet enrolled till March 31, 2018.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court pulled up the West Bengal government for challenging the vires of the Act that brought the scheme into place.

Several other petitions have been filed challenging the Centre’s move to make it compulsory to link Aadhaar to a host of services.

Last week, the requirement of Aadhaar for filing Income Tax returns was challenged once again by original petitioner Binoy Viswam.

The latest petition pending before the Supreme Court was a challenge to the compulsory linkage of Aadhaar to mobile numbers. It was contended in that petition that the Centre was deliberately misinterpreting the Supreme Court’s order passed in August 2015, in which it was made clear that the UIDAI’s brainchild would not be a mandatory requirement for availing services.

Another petition, assailing the requirement of Aadhaar for the Mid-Day Meal scheme and a host of other social service schemes.