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    Categories: aadhar

Supreme Court Supports Govt In Making Aadhaar Mandatory For Welfare Schemes

In a huge blow to the detractors of Aadhaar push, Supreme Court has ruled that Govt. of India is correct in pushing Aadhaar for availing welfare schemes.

Hence, after this recent judgement from the apex court, it is clear that Aadhaar cannot be ignored now, especially by those who wish to utilise Govt. schemes related to welfare.

Recently, Govt. made Aadhaar mandatory for TB patients, for availing medical help under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP).

The petitioners, represented by Senior advocate Shyam Divan, had challenged Govt. on Aadhaar requirement for availing welfare schemes, by stating that this will prove to be an inconvenience for the poor, and several deserving candidates can get rejected due to the mismatch in Aadhaar verification.

Dismissing this petition, the vacation bench of Supreme Court, comprising of A.M. Khanwilkar and Navin Sinha stated that the Aadhaar push cannot be stopped now, in the middle, based on “mere apprehension” of petitioners, regarding Aadhaar.

The Bench said, “No interim order can be passed in mandamus on mere apprehensions. You have to wait for one week. If somebody is deprived (of the benefits) you can point out the same to this court,”

Interestingly, the judges at apex court used the previous ruling of Supreme Court, made on June 9th, related to the PAN-Aadhaar linkage. The Bench said, “In view of the observations made in the judgement in Para 90 of the case… decided on June 9, no further observation is required.”

In the previous ruling made on June 9th, Supreme Court hadn’t stopped Govt. from enforcing the Aadhaar-PAN Card linkage but refused to make the process compulsory, until Constitutional Bench decides on the privacy issue.

Meanwhile, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for Govt of India, stated that the deadline for those who don’t have Aadhaar Card for availing welfare schemes have been extended to September 30th, from June 30th. Hence, Indian citizens now have 2 more months to apply and acquire Aadhaar card for receiving welfare schemes.

Less Than A Week Remaining For Linking Aadhaar With PAN Card

Meanwhile, just as a reminder, do note that taxpayers now have less than a week to link their PAN Cards with Aadhaar. Effective July 1st, Aadhaar Card number is mandatory for filing tax returns using PAN Card.

Income Tax Dept. has already launched a special portal to link Aadhaar with PAN Card, and the process can be completed using SMS verification as well.

You can check out this video from our Youtube channel that explains how you can Link your Aadhaar card with PAN card. If you like the video, make sure you subscribe to our channel

Besides, Aadhaar linkage with the bank account is also mandatory, else your bank account would be blocked after December 31st.

Govt. had earlier stated that leakage of Aadhaar data is not a big deal.

Mohul Ghosh: Mohul keenly observes the nuances of Indian startup world; and tries to demystify the secrets behind Technology, Marketing, Mobile and Internet. He is a Writer by passion, Marketer by choice and Entrepreneur by compulsion. Follow him on Twitter here: @_mohul
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