The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its judgement in the Aadhaar case. A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar programme and its enabling law.
The verdict on a bunch of petitions that challenged the validity of Aadhaar, was reserved by the Supreme Court today after a marathon hearing that stretched over nearly 4 months, making it the 2nd Longest Case Ever.
Attorney General of India KK Venugopal said the hearing, which began on January 17 and lasted 38 days, was the second-longest in the history of the top court after Kesavanada Bharati versus State of Kerala (1973).
The petitioners have raised privacy concerns and have also questioned why the identity number has been made mandatory for people to avail of welfare schemes, file income tax returns, and hold mobile numbers and bank accounts.
The Centre, which made the Unique Identity Number compulsory for a number of services and welfare measures, defended Aadhaar on multiple grounds. One of the biggest points in its favour, the Centre argued, was that it ensured proper distribution of benefits and prevented corruption.
Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud, who is part of the bench, on Wednesday said that failures in authentication using Aadhaar could create problems for those in need, and a solution was needed to address the issue.
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