Don’t tie up benefits to Aadhaar, court tells Centre

Petitions on card referred to Constitution Bench

The Supreme Court, while restraining the Centre from issuing Aadhaar cards to immigrants living in India without proper papers, has made it clear that no citizen should be denied benefits for non-possession of the card.

Justices B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde, in a brief order on Monday, directed that writ petitions on the Aadhaar card be listed for hearing before a Constitution Bench. “Until then no person should suffer for not getting the Aadhaar card in spite of the Authority making it mandatory, since government says it is voluntary. The Authority should verify whether the applicant is entitled to the card under the law and should not issue it to illegal immigrants,” said the two-judge Bench.

Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, and other petitioners said the Aadhaar scheme was unconstitutional.