Aadhaar not mandatory for NEET and other all-India examinations: SC

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 7

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) not to make Aadhaar mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India examinations.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed the CBSE to accept alternative identification documents such as passport, driving licence, bank account, ration card, etc.

In view of the March 9 deadline for enrolment for NEET, the bench asked CBSE to do the needful at the earliest so as to avoid any inconvenience to students.

The Bench -- which also included Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan -- made it clear that it will extend the March 31 deadline for linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phone numbers.

“Don’t worry. We will do it. Let the arguments be finished,” said CJI Dipak Misra after petitioners’ counsel demanded that the deadline be extended to avoid any confusion at the last moment.

Justice Chandrachud said, “There is an issue. We are nearing the end of financial year. There is uncertainty in banks, stock exchanges and financial markets because of the deadline. They need time to enforce it.”

The Centre had on Tuesday hinted at extending the deadline for linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phone numbers beyond March 31 after the petitioners against the unique identification number pointed out that that the case was likely to take more time to conclude.

Attorney General KK Venugopal had said the government had in the past extended the deadline and it was open to extend it. “We are only in the first week of March…Let’s see how the case progresses,” he had said on Tuesday.

The top court had on December 15, 2017 extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones and opening of new bank accounts to March 31. The deadline is also applicable to the central and state government schemes.

Pointing out repeated violation of the orders passed by the top court that said Aadhaar was not mandatory, Datar requested the bench to initiate contempt proceedings against government authorities violating its orders.

“Despite your Lordships’ orders, nobody is following…That’s the tragedy…Isn’t it a case of suo motu contempt?” Datar wondered.

Datar was supported by senior counsel Vibha Datta Makhija who pointed out that government authorities were insisting on Aadhaar despite the top court’s orders not to make it mandatory. She was representing Abidali Yusufbhai Patel -- a student from Gujarat -- who challenged the Gujarat High Court’s February 27 order refusing to interfere with the CBSE’s directive.

On behalf of the Centre, the Attorney General told the bench that the UIDAI had not authorised the CBSE to mandatorily take Aadhaar number of students to get themselves enroled for appearing in the NEET 2018 examination.

Venugopal said he has instructions from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that like in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam, other identity proofs such as passport, voter card and ration card can be used by the CBSE for enroling students in the examination.

The UIDAI’s remarks came on a plea challenging the decision of CBSE seeking mandatorily the Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrolment number from students who are aspiring to take up the NEET 2018 examination.

The bench was not convinced with Venugopal’s arguments that the court’s orders were passed before Parliament passed the Aadhaar Act and the government orders based on the new law would not be affected by its orders prior to the enactment.