Aadhaar not mandatory for school admissions, UGC, CBSE: Key Takeaways

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of the UID (Aadhaar) scheme and said that it empowers the marginalised sections of the society. It ruled that Aadhaar is not mandatory for school admissions and mobile phone connections and also struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act permitting private entities to avail Aadhaar data. The court also said that the Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months. For 38 days, the Supreme Court heard as many as 27 petitions that had challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and called it a violation of the right to privacy.

Here are some key takeaways from the Supreme Court verdict:

1. Aadhaar card is mandatory for PAN linking, Income Tax return
2. Aadhaar can be passed as Money Bill
3. No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring their Aadhaar number
4. CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory, also not compulsory for school admissions
5. Individuals and corporates cannot collect Aadhaar data
6. Government not to give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants
7. Aadhaar not to be made compulsory for school admissions 
8. Linking Aadhaar to telecom services unconstitutional
9. No person can be denied govt benefits only due to the absence of Aadhaar
10. No need to link bank accounts, mobile numbers to Aadhaar
11. There is nothing in Aadhaar Act that violates the right to privacy of individual