Aadhaar not must for entrance tests like NEET: Centre to SC

NEW DELHI: Students will not be barred from appearing in any entrance examination, including NEET, for want of Aadhaar as the Centre on Wednesday agreed before the Supreme Court not to make the 12-digit unique identity number mandatory for exams till its validity is decided by the apex court.
A five-judge Constitution bench, examining the validity of the UID scheme, recorded the statement of Attorney General K K Venugopal that students would be allowed to appear in examinations after furnishing other identity proofs such as, ration card, passport, voter ID, driving licence and bank account.

It passed the interim order after it was informed that the CBSE had made Aadhaar mandatory for aspiring medical students appearing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-2018). The Board had made Aadhaar mandatory for filling the NEET application for admission to MBBS and BDS courses. Only residents of Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya were exempted from providing their Aadhaar details for registration.

The court also made an important observation when it asked the Centre to take a decision soon on extending the March 31 deadline for mandatory linkage of Aadhaar number with bank accounts and mobile connections to avoid uncertainty and confusion at the end of the financial year. It agreed with the plea of the petitioners that the Centre should take a decision at the earliest.

As the deadline for filling up the form is March 9, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan agreed to grant an urgent hearing on a plea of a student challenging the order passed by Gujarat High Court refusing to stay CBSE's decision.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench that the unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) had not "authorised" CBSE to make Aadhaar a requirement for students for appearing in the exam and suggested examinees could be allowed to use any other identity proof like ration card, passport, voter ID, driving licence and bank account.

The bench then recorded his statement and said that Aadhaar not be prescribed for other entrance examinations also.

On the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhar with various services, the court told the AG that, "financial institutions including banks and stock market must know prior to March 31 about the extension of the deadline as they have to ensure compliance regarding linking of Aadhaar. It would lead to a great amount of uncertainty if you take a decision at the last moment as financial institutions have to ensure linking of Aadhaar". The AG had earlier said the deadline could be extended if the court hearing on validity of Aadhaar spilled over to April.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the bench that the court should take suo motu cognisance against government authorities for making Aadhaar mandatory in violation of apex court's interim order. "It is a case of contempt. Protection given by the Supreme Court is not being followed by government authorities. It is a violation of apex court's order. Even UCO bank in SC premises refused to take fixed deposit of senior advocate Shyam Divan for want of Aadhaar."

The AG, however, contended that the interim order was passed when the Aadhaar Act was not enforced and the order could not continue after the law was passed by Parliament.

Responding to the AG's submission, Justice Sikri said the interim order was not passed on the premise that law was not framed at that time. The arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on March 13.