SC allowed use of Aadhar Card for all Central and State Welfare schemes on voluntary basis

The Supreme Court on 15 October 2015 allowed the use of Aadhaar cards for all central and state schemes, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and employee provident fund and pension schemes, on voluntary basis.

After the concession, the citizens can avail benefits under welfare schemes. Also, the absence of an Aadhaar card will not disallow people from benefiting from these schemes.  

Pre-conditions set by Supreme Court

• The government cannot force citizens to enrol for the card.

• The government cannot make it a criterion for benefits under various schemes.

The order was passed by a Constitution Bench of five judges, Justices M Y Eqbal, C Nagappan, Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy. The bench was headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu.

Earlier on 7 October 2015, a three-judge bench of SC had refused to modify its August 11 2015 order limiting the use of Aadhar cards to LPG subsidy, Kerosene and Public Distribution System (PDS).

The order came after the Union Government and its various regulators such as RBI, IRDA, SEBI, TRAI moved the court, requesting it to lift the restraint so that Aadhaar can also be used to linking other services.

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