Aadhaar: To stay process or not, top court order today

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 14

The Supreme Court will pronounce its order on Friday on plea for stay on various notifications issued by the Government of India making Aadhaar-linking mandatory with various services and schemes.

The Centre, which has already extended the deadline for Aadhaar-linking from December 31 to March 31, 2018, opposed demands for stay but said it was ready to extend the deadline with regard to mobile phone numbers as well from February 6 to March 31 next year.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will pronounce the order at 10.30 am. The final hearing on the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar law would start on January 17, 2018.

Attorney General KK Venugopal said the government was insisting on February 6 deadline for mobile phone number-Aadhaar linking. He however, insisted that the 12-digit biometric identification number should remain mandatory for opening new bank accounts. The Constitution Bench order on Thursday is likely to cover this aspect.

On behalf of petitioners, senior advocate Shyam Divan cited orders passed by the court in 2015 which restrained the government from making Aadhaar mandatory. “Once directions are issued by this court, everyone has to obey it. At least protect the institution first before the citizens”, Divan submitted.

His arguments were countered by Venugopal who pointed out interim orders were passed at a time when there was no such law.

Now the government notifications were backed by the Aadhaar Act which validated the executive actions, he added.

Divan in his reply, said even after the law was enacted, the Centre should have approached the top court and sought modification in the interim order.