The government defended in the Supreme Court its decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for issuing PAN cards, saying it was done to curb the use of fake PAN cards across the country
The government defended in the Supreme Court its decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for issuing PAN cards, saying it was done to curb the use of fake PAN cards across the country.
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Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench comprising justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan that the programme of PAN had become suspect as it could be faked while Aadhaar is a “secure and robust” system by which the identity of an individual can't be faked.
He added that thanks to Aadhaar, the government has saved over R50,000 crore on the schemes to benefit the poor as well as the pension schemes.
Rohatgi said around 10 lakh PAN cards have been cancelled, while out of the 113.7 crore Aadhaar cards issued, no case of duplication has been found by the government.
He also said Aadhaar was an effective tool to check the menace of terror funding and circulation of black money.
The apex court is hearing three petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 139 AA of the Income Tax Act, which was introduced through the latest budget and the Finance Act 2017.
113.7 No. of Aadhaar cards issued
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