SC questions use of Aadhaar for drawing pension by retired govt staff

The Supreme Court today questioned mandatory use of Aadhaar for drawing pension by retired government employees, saying they are former staff of government and their identity is not under doubt.

Stressing that there has to be a robust system to ensure that nobody is deprived of his or her dues, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said pension accounts are operated by retired employees only and hence, there was no question of any impersonation.

"How would it be a case of fake identity? The employee pension scheme deals with pension earned by employees after rendering services," the bench said, adding that forcing such employees at the age of 70 or 80 to go for Aadhaar would fall under the ambit of "exclusion".

Justice D Y Chandrachud, who is a member of the bench, gave the example of his late father and former CJI Y V Chandrachud saying only he used to operate the pension account and hence there was no question of somebody else operating it.

The bench raised the issue of retired persons settled abroad. Pointing out that as per rules, only Indians can enrol for Aadhaar, it said, "The government has to ensure that non-resident Indians can get the pensionary benefits as they cannot apply for Aadhaar."