HIGHLIGHTS
NEW DELHI: The Centre told the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday that it will extend the deadline for mandatory Aadhaar to avail social benefits to December 31 from the earlier September 30.
Attorney General (AG) K K Venugopal, on the Centre’s behalf, made this statement to a Supreme Court bench when petitioners sought an early hearing on pleas challenging Aadhaar’s validity, following last week’s top court judgment declaring privacy a fundamental right.
As for the petitions challenging Aadhaar, the SC agreed to list them for hearing in the first week of November.
The AG, in fact, requested the SC bench – headed by chief justice Dipak Mishra – to list these petitions before a 5-judge Constitution bench rather than a 3-judge one.
On June 27, the deadline for mandatory Aadhaar for social benefits was extended to September 30 from June 30. At the time, the SC also said there will be no freeze on the government notification that makes Aadhaar mandatory for social benefit schemes. The top court was hearing a petition that expressed “apprehension” that students would be deprive of mid-day meals if Aadhaar is made mandatory.
“No order can be passed just on the basis of apprehension,” the SC said on June 27.
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