Aadhaar case: SC reserves verdict on pleas challenging verdict; top points

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Thursday reserved its judgement on the Aadhaar matter. Several appeals were filed challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud, while hearing the petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme's constitutional validity, on Wednesday recalled a personal experience of how his mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, had faced difficulty in authentication to get her pension.

Justice Chandrachud is part of the five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, which is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and its enabling law of 2016.

The hearing will continue on Thursday.

On May 3, the Centre had strongly defended its decision to seed Aadhaar numbers with mobile phones, telling the top court that it could have been hauled up for contempt if the verification of mobile users was not undertaken by it. However, the court had said that the government had misinterpreted its order and used it as a "tool" to make Aadhaar mandatory for mobile users.

SC extends Aadhaar linking deadline for all services indefinitely: Updates

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes, as well as mobile phones and bank accounts.

A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan heard a clutch of pleas seeking a stay on government's decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with welfare schemes, as well as essential services like banking and phone.

In its order, the apex court ruled that the deadlines for linking to the Unique Identification number stand extended till it decides on its validity.
Aadhaar will be necessary only for social schemes, said the top court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions that have challenged the validity of the 12-digit number.

Earlier, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that the government could extend the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes, as well as mobile phones and bank accounts, if required.