Constitution bench to hear Aadhaar pleas in end-November

NEW DELHI: A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear in end-November a slew of petitions challenging the legal validity of the Aadhaar Act after the Central government refused to extend the December 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN and mobile phones.

The government had earlier agreed to extend the deadline to March 31, 2018, for all those who had not got Aadhaar but were willing to get one.

At the top court’s insistence, the attorney general had gone back to the government for instructions on whether it would hold off taking any coercive steps till the court took a call on the constitutional validity of the scheme.

Today, the AG refused to hold out any such assurance. Instead, he urged the court to decide the case as early as possible. As many as 100 government notifications on Aadhaar were under challenge, he said.

He charged that many falsehoods were being spread about Aadhaar, including how it was a must for CBSE students to appear in their Class 10 and 12 examinations.

Senior advocates Shyam Divan, Kapil Sibal and Gopal Subramanium urged the court to stay all notifications making Aadhaar mandatory. The AG, however, opposed any move to stay the notifications.

A three-judge bench, comprising CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, has decided to have the hearing on the legality of Aadhaar post the right to privacy ruling in November.

Fresh petitions after the privacy ruling contend the collection of biometrics without any data protection regime violated the privacy of citizens.