Supreme Court: After Senior Advocate Arvind Datar brought to the Court’s notice that the Passports (1st Amendment) Rules, 2018 has been introduced which makes Aadhaar mandatory for obtaining Passport under “Tatkal” Scheme, the 5-judge bench of Dipak Misra, CJ and Dr. AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, Dr. DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, JJ directed the deadline for linking Aadhaar with Bank Accounts and Mobile Numbers shall stand extended till the Aadhaar matter is finally heard and the judgment is pronounced. The Court also made clear that the said direction will also apply to the Tatkal Passport Scheme.
However, the Court accepted Attorney General KK Venugopal’s submissions that the benefits, subsidies and services covered under Section 7 of the The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 should remain undisturbed. Hence, the deadline for Aadhaar linkage for subsidies and scheme will remain unchanged i.e. 31.03.2018.
The said order of the Court came on Day 16 of the Aadhaar Hearing. [Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 494/2012, order dated 14.03.2018]