The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed linking of Aadhaar with PAN for filing of income tax return (ITR).
The top court, however, ruled that it is not mandatory to link bank accounts with the 12-digit personal identification number.
The much-awaited verdict on the Aadhaar matter comes after several petitions had challenged the system on the grounds that it violates privacy.Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit identification number issued to individuals by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDIA) after storing their biometrics data.The fate of Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been dangling ever since privacy concerns were raised.
The compulsory linking of the Aadhaar card with bank accounts, PAN card, welfare schemes and a host of other utilities, violates the fundamental right to privacy, alleged a spree of petitions challenging its validity.The Aadhaar verdict was announced by a five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.K.
Sikri, Justice A.M.
Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y.
Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan.
The bench had reserved the verdict after hearing the petitions for over 38 days starting January 17 this year.