Linking Aadhaar to PAN challenged in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court had observed that Aadhaar is not mandatory.

A petition has been filed in the challenging the decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns. A petition was moved by Kerala Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam in the SC questioning the introduction of Section 139 AA of the IT Act to link Aadhaar with PAN.

"I did not have an Aadhaar card since there was no legitimate expectation that the scheme was mandatory," the petitioner said. He also quoted the Supreme Court's observation which said that the same was not mandatory.

"Due to the introduction of Section 139 AA in the Income Tax Act, I have been coerced into obtaining an Aadhaar card in complete violation of my right to privacy as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution," the petitioner said.

This court has in various petitions dealing with the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme directed that the scheme is purely voluntary and is to be obtained only on the consent of individuals, he further contended.

The biometric and demographic information are sought to be forcefully obtained by the state machineries, hence negating the requirement of consent, he argued while pointing out that when an existing PAN regime is in place, the new provision would not be necessary.

OneIndia News