NEW DELHI:
The Union government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it will extend up to March 31, 2018 the deadline fixed for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various schemes, including one’s bank accounts. Attorney General K K Venugopal, however, said the last date for linking Aadhaar to mobile services will remain February 6, 2018 in pursuance of a judicial order.
The A-G also reportedly informed the top court that a Data Protection Committee led by Justice Sri Krishna will submit its final report to the government by February 2018.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, meanwhile, said it will set up a Constitution bench next week to hear the interim pleas seeking a stay on Centre’s move to link Aadhaar with various government schemes and services. The government may, however, restrict the March 31, 2018 extension only to those who still do not have an Aadhaar number. Arguments in this regard were inconclusive and are likely to come up during the hearing next week.
On November 26, the top court had said that it would hear the petitions after its constitution bench concludes hearing the Delhi-Centre governance dispute. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra had in October said that a constitution bench would be constituted and Aadhaar-related matters would come up for hearing before it.
Earlier, the Supreme Court refused to pass an interim order staying the linking of Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts. The court chastised banks and mobile telephone companies for creating panic by sending customers messages saying their accounts will be deactivated if they don’t link them to Aadhaar.
The SC also asked the Centre to direct companies to mention in their text messages, the last date for linking their mobile numbers and bank accounts with Aadhaar. This statement from the SC came a day after the Centre told the apex court that all subscribers had to link their mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar by February 6 under E-KYC verification. The Centre also said that showing proof of Aadhaar is mandatory for opening new bank accounts.
The Centre further said that it was the SC that had approved the norm for mandatory Aadhaar-mobile phone linkage – with a window of one year – in the Lokniti Foundation case on February 6.
