Aadhaar verdict: What needs to be linked, what does not

The Supreme Court on Wednesday brought out the list of services for which biometric ID Aadhaar needs to be mandatorily linked, and the ones for which it is not required.

The court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access their services. FILE PIC/AFP.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court in its historic Aadhaar verdict struck down some of the provisions of the Centre's flagship scheme including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions. The apex court, however, held the world's largest biometric scheme as constitutionally valid. While the BJP has described the Supreme Court judgement on Aadhaar as a big victory for the "pro-poor Modi government", the Congress said the top court supported the Congress' vision on the world's largest biometric scheme. The Supreme Court on Wednesday brought out the list of services for which biometric ID Aadhaar needs to be mandatorily linked, and the ones for which it is not required. Services requiring Aadhaar linking: *It is mandatory to link PAN with Aadhaar. * Aadhaar is compulsory for filing Income Tax returns. * Aadhaar must for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies. Services not requiring Aadhaar linking: * It is not mandatory to link bank account with Aadhaar. * Telecom service providers cannot ask for linking mobile number with Aadhaar. * CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory. * Aadhaar not compulsory for school admissions. * No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring Aadhaar. The court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access their services. The court also said that as of today "we do not find anything in Aadhaar Act which violates right to privacy of individual citizen". (With inputs from PTI)