The Supreme Court on Monday said it will form a five-judge Constitution Bench, which will from the last week of November start hearing a number of petitions challenging the government’s decision to make Aadhaar-linking mandatory, Bar & Bench reported.
The Centre has made it mandatory to link more than 50 schemes with Aadhaar.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra listed the case after Attorney General KK Venugopal said the Centre will not extend its December 31 deadline to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts for citizens already enrolled. Last week, the Centre had said it was willing to extend the deadline to March 31, 2018, only for those who are yet to get an Aadhaar card.
On Monday, the Attorney General told the court that the case should be heard in March, according to Live Law. Advocate Gopal Subramanian then told the court the government should not make it mandatory to link various services with Aadhaar if the hearing is postponed.
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court criticised the West Bengal government for challengingthe Centre’s directive to link Aadhaar to various schemes. The bench asked, “How can a state challenge a law by Parliament?” It said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could approach the court as an individual and challenge it.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!