New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday extended the deadline for Aadhaar linking of all services and schemes, including mobile phones, provident fund and bank accounts. The new deadline is March 31.
The SC said the deadline has also been extended for schemes run by state governments. The court said new bank accounts can be opened without Aadhaar but applicant needs to submit proof that he has applied for the card.
A five-judge Supreme Court bench is hearing a clutch of pleas seeking a stay on government's decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with welfare schemes.
The Centre had told the apex court on Thursday that it would extend the deadline. However, the Centre vehemently pressed before the constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra for allowing the national biometric identifier to remain mandatory for opening new bank accounts.
The top court, which fixed the main petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme itself for final hearing on January 17 next year, said it would consider the submission of Attorney General K K Venugopal that deadline of February 6, 2018 for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with mobile services can also be extended up to March 31 next year.
Venugopal had referred to an earlier apex court order asking the Centre to ensure verification of existing and new mobile users by February 6 and hence, the government, on its own, cannot extend the deadline.
"The deadline for almost everything has been extended," Venugopal said, adding that Aadhaar was mandatory for new bank accounts and several crores of existing bank accounts have already been linked.
(With PTI Inputs)
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