According to new developments in the Aadhar Card to be not made mandatory until the Supreme Court decides it to be.
Aadhaar will not be mandatory for services like banking, cellphone connections and tatkal passport till a decision has been taken on the matter, the Supreme Court said today, extending the March 31 deadline to link the Unique Identification number indefinitely.
A five-judge Constitution bench — comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan — is currently hearing the petitioners in the case following which the government will respond. A judgment in the case, therefore, is unlikely before the end of this month.
Supreme Court says mandatory #Aadhaar linking with bank accounts and mobile phones will stand extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced pic.twitter.com/X8ZzrcjMBC
— ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2018
Over the last two weeks, mobile phone cellular service providers and banks resumed messaging its clients to link one’s Aadhaar to their account or mobile phone by March 31. The order makes it clear that one does not have to link it until the Supreme Court passes its verdict in the case. So, for now, you can ignore those messages if you haven’t yet linked.
There is some ambiguity over whether Aadhaar will be required for social schemes like subsidy for LPG cylinders, MGNREGA and midday meals among others. The specifics of the order will be made clear once the final order is released by the court.