SC to hear West Bengal govt’s plea against Centre's move to link Aadhaar with welfare schemes

New Delhi: The Supreme Court would hear on 30 October a plea filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government against the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes. The plea is listed for hearing before a bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan. Senior advocate and Member of Parliament Kalyan Banerjee said the petition was filed earlier and would come up for hearing before the bench on 30 October. He said that West Bengal government has challenged the provision which said that without Aadhaar, the benefits of social welfare schemes would not be extended. [caption id=“attachment_4164149” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18[/caption] On 25 October, the Centre had told the top court that the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail benefits of various government schemes has been extended till 31 March next year for those who do not have the 12-digit biometric identification number. Attorney General KK Venugopal had told a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the deadline extension from December end this year till 31 March, 2018, would apply only to those who do not have Aadhaar and are willing to enroll for it. However, Venugopal had told the bench that he would take instructions on certain issues on Aadhaar after which the court had asked him to mention the matter again on 30 October. Several petitions, challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for welfare schemes and notifications to link it with mobile numbers and bank accounts, are pending in the apex court.