Uncertainty over the March 31 deadline to link Aadhaar with services will cause problems, especially in the banking and financial sectors, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, PTI reported.
“Today if we don’t extend the deadline, there would be uncertainty… it has to be extended,” the bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra told Attorney General KK Venugopal. “There is a great state of uncertainty in the country,” the bench said while indicating that it may issue an extension order on March 14, the Hindustan Times reported.
The five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan is hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar.
The bench had so far not brought up the problem of extending the deadline to link Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile phone numbers and other essential services such as welfare schemes and benefits, The Hindu reported. But with the March 31 deadline just weeks away, the court highlighted the dangers of waiting till the “last minute”. The bench also said it may not be possible to decide on the petitions by the end of the month.
“We are dealing with the entire financial system…” Justice DY Chandrachud said. “We cannot let this state of uncertainty prevail… We cannot tell them, like on March 27, whether the deadline is extended or not…” he told Venugopal, according to The Hindu. “A banker cannot be expected to seek compliance from customers within seven days.”
He pointed out that the financial year is coming to an end. “There is uncertainty in banks, stock exchanges and financial markets because of the deadline. They need time to enforce it,” Justice Chandrachud said.
The judges also said they were not happy with the way banks, mobile phone companies and other financial institutions were coercing people to link Aadhaar to continue services.
The attorney general told the court a day earlier that the Centre was not against extending the deadline. “We have extended the deadline in the past and we will extend the deadline again, but we may do it by the end of month to enable the petitioners in the case conclude the arguments.”
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