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Petitioners Move Supreme Court Seeking Stay On Aadhaar Linking Deadlines

The petitioners in the Aadhaar case approached the Apex Court to seek a stay on various Aadhaar linking deadlines.

People wait in queue at an Aadhaar camp in Agra, India. (Source: Twitter/ @UIDAI)
People wait in queue at an Aadhaar camp in Agra, India. (Source: Twitter/ @UIDAI)

The government today informed the Supreme Court that it is willing to extend the deadline for linking Aadhaar to various social welfare schemes and services up to March 31 next year.

The extension is likely only if the hearing in the main Aadhaar matter extends beyond the current deadlines and will apply only to those who do not yet possess an Aadhaar card, the Centre informed the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

Petitioners in the Aadhaar case today approached the apex court to seek a stay on various linking deadlines until the main challenge to the Aadhaar scheme is decided by the court. Currently, the last date to link Aadhaar with bank accounts is Dec. 31 this year while for mobile numbers, it is Feb. 6, 2018.

A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will now hear these batch of petitions seeking interim relief before moving on to the main matter. The Chief Justice of India asked the petitioners to approach him next week but did not specify a date when the bench will hear these prayers.

On Oct. 30, a bench headed by the Chief Justice had said that a Constitution Bench would be constituted and Aadhaar-related matters would come up for hearing before it.

The petitioners are seeking interim orders since the Chief Justice is still hearing other Constitution bench matters. The apex court had earlier fixed the final hearing in the Aadhaar matter for the last week November.

(With inputs from PTI)