SC Upholds Government Move To Link Aadhaar And PAN, Reprieve For Those Without Aadhaar

Pronouncing its order on Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar card mandatory for income tax return, the Supreme Court today upheld the scheme, saying it is mandatory for all Aadhaar holders to link the unique identity number with the permanent account number (PAN) for filing income tax returns.

According to Livemint, the apex court also said that those who does not have an Aadhaar card will not face criminal consequences for not linking it with PAN.

This issue came under the court’s scanner in April, after which it said it would examine the validity of the Centre's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for PAN cards and income tax returns and sought government’s explanation.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the government to explain why Aadhaar was made mandatory when the apex court had earlier said that it could only be made optional. Defending its decision, the government had said the move would help in removing fake and fraudulent financial accounts.