Court reserves verdict on linking of Aadhaar with PAN
|
AmitAnand Choudhary
|
|
New Delhi:
|
Amid a raging public debate,
the Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the
constitutional validity of a law making it mandatory for citizens to
link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the Aadhaar unique
identity.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan will decide
on the validity of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act which provides
for compulsory quoting of Aadhaar for filing income tax returns and
application for allotment of PAN from July 1.
Though the court's verdict will be confined to the validity of Section 139AA, away people's right of privacy and allow the government to monitor their lives through digital surveillance.
The Centre contended the judgment will have wider implications as government authorities are expanding the ambit of Aadhaar by linking it to various other schemes.
The Centre termed Aadhaar an effective and foolproof tool to check tax evasion and keep tabs on circulation of black money. However, civil society members challenged the provision and said it was a “draconian“ law which will take that Parliament could not be restrained from framing a law and should not strike it down merely on the ground that it was in violation of its interim order. Countering the Centre's arguments, senior advocate Arvind Datar told the bench that the SC order is binding on Parliament and the law should be quashed. “They cannot belittle the Supreme Court order. The sacrosanctity of a judicial order has to be preserved. Otherwise it will have dangerous consequences,“ he said during the arguments.
Though the court's verdict will be confined to the validity of Section 139AA, away people's right of privacy and allow the government to monitor their lives through digital surveillance.
The Centre contended the judgment will have wider implications as government authorities are expanding the ambit of Aadhaar by linking it to various other schemes.
The Centre termed Aadhaar an effective and foolproof tool to check tax evasion and keep tabs on circulation of black money. However, civil society members challenged the provision and said it was a “draconian“ law which will take that Parliament could not be restrained from framing a law and should not strike it down merely on the ground that it was in violation of its interim order. Countering the Centre's arguments, senior advocate Arvind Datar told the bench that the SC order is binding on Parliament and the law should be quashed. “They cannot belittle the Supreme Court order. The sacrosanctity of a judicial order has to be preserved. Otherwise it will have dangerous consequences,“ he said during the arguments.
No comments:
Post a Comment