The central government on Friday said that residents of three states – Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya – and those over the age of 80 will not have to furnish their Aadhaar to get a permanent account number (PAN), and that they can file their income tax returns without the unique identification number. Non-residents and non-citizens have also been exempted, reported PTI.
However, the government notice does not specify any reason for the exemption. “The Central government hereby notifies that the provisions of Section 139AA shall not apply to an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the Enrolment ID and is:- (i) residing in the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya; (ii) a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961; (iii) of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year; (iv) not a citizen of India,” read the official statement.
So far, the revenue department has linked more than 1.18 crore Aadhaars with its PAN database. Recently, it also launched an e-facility to link Aadhaar with PAN.
Besides Tripura, Aadhaar enrolment has been poor in the northeastern states. Till April, only 7% of Assam’s 3.30 crore citizens have enrolled for the unique identification number, reported The Hindu. In Meghalaya, the percentage stands at nine. Relatively, more people in the states of Arunachal Pradesh (65%), Mizoram (66%) and Nagaland have enrolled for Aadhaar.
The announcement comes five days before the Supreme Court starts hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory to avail benefits of government welfare schemes. A five-judge vacation bench of the apex court will start hearing the case on an urgent basis from May 17.
On April 21, the top court had questioned the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns, despite its repeated orders that the unique identification programme cannot be made compulsory. In March, the court had asserted that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for welfare schemes – as established in previous interim orders. This was after the bench had reminded the Centre in August 2015 that use of Aadhaar must be voluntary.
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