The Supreme Court Wednesday declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid. The apex court’s five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said Aadhaar is meant to help benefits reach the marginalised sections of the society and takes into account the dignity of people not only from personal but also from a community point of view.
Justice Sikri said unique identification proof also empowers and gives identity to marginalised sections of society. There is no possibility of obtaining a duplicate Aadhaar card, he said, adding that there is sufficient defence mechanism for authentication in the Aadhaar scheme. The concept of human dignity has been enlarged in the judgement, he said.
The first of the three verdicts was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri who wrote the judgment for himself, CJI and Justice A M Khanwilkar. The verdict was pronounced on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar scheme and its enabling 2016 law. The bench had on May 10 reserved the verdict on the matter after a marathon hearing that went on for 38 days, spanning four-and-half months.
Here are some important takeaways from Supreme Court’s Aadhaar verdict:
* Aadhaar card mandatory for obtaining PAN and filing Income Tax returns.
* Aadhaar not mandatory for obtaining a new SIM card.
* The Supreme Court observed that bank accounts need not be mandatorily linked Aadhaar.
* No mobile company can demand “Aadhaar card”
* The Supreme Court directed the government to not give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants.
* Aadhaar must not be made compulsory for school admission and school administration cannot make it mandatory. It should also not be made mandatory for CBSE, UGC and NEET exams.
* Supreme Court said that nothing in Aadhaar Act that violates the right to privacy of individual
* Supreme Court upholds passing of Aadhaar Bill as Money Bill by Lok Sabha.
* No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring their Aadhaar number.
* Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months.
* Supreme Court Constitution Bench strikes down the National security exception under the Aadhaar Act.
* Supreme Court strikes down the section 57 of Aadhaar Act; as a result, private companies cannot ask for Aadhaar card
* Aadhaar not mandatory for obtaining a new SIM card.