Aadhar linking to bank account not mandatory: Supreme Court

The Aadhaar verdict was announced today (26.09.2018) by a five-judge constitution bench of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan. The Apex Court, ruled that it is not mandatory to link bank accounts with Aadhaar or Unique Identity Number, a 12-digit personal identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India. The Supreme Court said benefits under the Aadhaar project should be in the nature of welfare schemes and it cannot be made compulsory for services such as bank accounts, mobile connections or school admissions. However, the top court allowed linking Aadhar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) which is mandatory for filing of income tax return (ITR).

The validity of compulsory linking of the Aadhaar card with bank accounts, PAN card, welfare schemes and a host of other utilities was challenged in Supreme Court by spree of petitions alleging that it violates the fundamental right to privacy.