The government's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for PAN came under sharp attack in the SC yesterday, with the petitioners asserting that the move would "dilute civil liberties and dominate the citizens"
The Centre is facing flak over linking Aadhaar with PAN
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The government's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for PAN came under sharp attack in the SC yesterday, with the petitioners asserting that the move would "dilute civil liberties and dominate the citizens".
They contended that an Aadhaar-like system has not been implemented in any country that calls itself democratic. They said the step was in "complete collision" with the norms laid down by its statutory arm, the UIDAI, which clearly states that Aadhaar is "voluntary".
Senior advocate Shyam Divan said, "There are cases where such information have been commercially sold. The law says life and body is paramount and if the fingerprints of an individual are stolen, it might end his identity."
The Centre maintained its stand, saying section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, which makes quoting of Aadhaar for filing of I-T returns mandatory, was enacted to ensure that fake PAN cards are weeded out of the system. On the repeated leaks of Aadhaar data, it said leakage was never from the UIDAI database.
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