SC to hear plea for interim relief on mandatory linking of Aadhaar

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear a batch of application seeking interim relief on the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various schemes including bank accounts and mobile telephone numbers.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwikar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the Constitution bench that will hear the various plea for interim relief will also indicate the dates when petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar Act would to taken up for hearing.

As the court said that the matter would be heard next week by the Constitution bench, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal indicated that the deadline for the linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar would be extended till March 31, 2018.

However, he expressed some difficulty in extending the deadline on linking with mobile telephones in view of the earlier ruling of the top court.

The Attorney General said that in respect of 131 services, a notification would be issued.

The court said the plea for interim relief would be heard next week after the Aadhaar matter was mentioned by senior counsel P.B. Suresh who appeared for lead petitioner Justice K.S. Puttuswamy -- a former judge of the Karnataka High Court.

Justice Puttuswamy and many others have challenged the validity of Aadhaar Act on the grounds that it violates the fundamental right to privacy.

--IANS

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