Aadhaar scheme is constitutionally valid: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid.

The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the Aadhaar scheme is valid as it is meant to help benefits reach the marginalised sections of the society.

It was upheld most of the provisions of the Aadhaar Act by a 4:1 majority. Justice DY Chandrachud was the sole dissenter.

The apex court said mobile phones, bank accounts and school admissions do not need to be linked with Aadhaar. The court, however, said Aadhaar is mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and filing income tax returns.

Supreme Court said that CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory.

“A major relief is that if an individual biometric doesn’t match he/she will not be restrained from getting benefits if he/she can prove identity otherwise,” said Prashant Bhushan, senior lawyer.