Aadhaar gets some ''Aadhaar'' from SC; declared constitutional but some provisions struck down

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 26

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of the Aadhaar Act, at the same time declaring many of its provisions as unconstitutional.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruled that banks and telecom companies could not insist on the Aadhaar number.

Schools also couldn’t insist on Aadhaar number of a child, the apex court ruled.

The top court said the right to education is a fundamental right of every child in the age group of six to 14 and it couldn't be subject to children submitting the Aadhaar number.

Maintaining that metadata could not be stored beyond six months, the Bench declared unconstitutional a provision that provided for storage of metadata for five years.

The main verdict was written by Justice AK Sikri for himself, CJI and Justice AM Khanwilkar while Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan wrote separate verdicts.

Justice Chandrachud dissented with the main verdict saying the Aadhaar Act could not have been passed as a money Bill.

In his minority verdict, Justice Chandrachud termed it a fraud on the Constitution and debasement of the constitutional institution of Rajya Sabha to introduce and pass the Aadhaar Bill as a money bill.

The majority, however, upheld the passage of Aadhaar law as a money bill.

Services requiring Aadhaar linking:

It is mandatory to link PAN with Aadhaar.

Aadhaar is compulsory for filing Income Tax returns.

Aadhaar must for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

Services not requiring Aadhaar linking:

It is not mandatory to link bank account with Aadhaar.

Telecom service providers cannot ask for linking mobile number with Aadhaar.

CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory.

Aadhaar not compulsory for school admissions.

No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring Aadhaar.