The centre and state governments must not insist on Aadhaar from citizens before providing essential services, the apex court ruled

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Monday has ruled that Aadhaar or the unique identification (UID) number scheme, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s ambitious project, is not mandatory to avail essential services from the government.

Various state governments have been insisting on making Aadhaar compulsory for a range of formalities, including marriage registration, disbursal of salaries and provident fund among other public services.

While hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by retired Karnataka High Court judge Justice KS Puttaswamy and advocate Parvesh Khanna questioning the legal sanctity of Aadhaar, the apex court said, “The centre and state governments must not insist on Aadhaar from citizens before providing them essential services.”

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