Supreme Court partially stays linking of PAN with Aadhaar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the newly-inserted provision in the Income Tax Act mandating linking of Aadhaar number with Permanent Account Number (PAN), but it partially stayed its operation.

A division bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan said that those who already possess Aadhaar number will have to link it with PAN, but it cannot be insisted upon in case of people not possessing Aadhaar card.

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Holding that the said provision in the IT Act was not violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 19, Justice Sikri pronounced the judgment and said that the new provision may be effective prospectively and not retrospectively, and the transactions already undertaken in the past cannot be reopened.