‘How Can You Make Aadhaar Compulsory For PAN?’, SC Asks Centre 

The Supreme Court asked the Central government to explain why it made Aadhaar card mandatory for getting a PAN card, when it had passed an order restraining such a move.

"How can you make Aadhaar card mandatory when we have passed an order to make it optional?" the top court asked.

Earlier, the apex court said there was nothing wrong in making Aadhaar mandatory for opening bank accounts, getting mobile connections and passports. Pan card or welfare benefits did not feature in this list.

The Attorney General (AG), representing the Centre, justified its initiative saying that making the Aadhaar compulsory is its "only option".

"We found a number of PAN cards being used to divert funds to shell companies. To prevent that (from happening) the only option is to make Aadhaar card mandatory," the AG told the apex court.

Even so, the main argument against making Aadhar compulsory for PAN is this: there is simply no privacy protection in the Indian system that is legally strong enough to deliver justice to people whose IDs have been misused or compromised by the state or even private parties.

A solution would be to resort to technology which the PAN issuance process more foolproof.

Also read: Aadhaar Over-Reach: Making It A Must For PAN Will Leave Millions Vulnerable