The Supreme Court decided on Wednesday that the Aadhaar card is not mandatory for services like opening bank accounts and obtaining phone connections.
Constitution bench will decide whether Aadhaar card can be used for schemes other than Public Distribution System (PDS) & LPG as sought by Central Govt, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India and others.
The Centre and its various arms had pitched strongly in the Supreme Court for voluntary use of Aadhaar cards to provide benefits of various welfare schemes.
However, the pleas for relaxation of the August 11 order restricting the use of Aadhaar cards for PDS scheme and LPG distribution scheme, was opposed by those petitioners on whose PILs the apex court had said these cards will not be mandatory for availing benefits of welfare schemes.
A bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde and C Nagappan had reserved its order on the pleas for relaxation, modification and clarification of its interim order by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), RBI, SEBI, IRDA, TRAI, Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority and states like Gujarat and Jharkhand, among others.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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