[The text of the judgement is now available. The most crucial element of the operative part of the "order" appears to be: <<(iv) Section 139AA is also not violative of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution insofar as it mandates giving of Aadhaar enrollment number for applying PAN cards in the income tax returns or notified Aadhaar enrollment number to the designated authorities. Further, proviso to sub-section (2) thereof has to be read down to mean that it would operate only prospective.>>
Presumably, "proviso to sub-section (2) thereof has to be read down to mean that it would operate only prospective" implies that if one does not have an Aadhaar number right at this point of time, it is not mandatory for her/him to provide it and may do it as and when that number is made available to her/him. Somewhere else, in the body of the (157-page) judgement, it has been more categorically laid down that "those assessees who are not Aadhaar card holders and do not comply with the provision of Section 139(2), their PAN cards be not treated as invalid for the time being." (See the original version of the truncated report reproduced below.) But one thing is sure and certain, the implication of "Section 139AA is also not violative of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution insofar as it mandates giving of Aadhaar enrollment number for applying PAN cards in the income tax returns" is that ***it is mandatory" for those having Aaadhaar numbers to link their respective numbers with their PAN numbers while filing IT returns. In fact, again, in the body of the judgement, it has been categorically stated: "Those who have already enrolled themselves under Aadhaar scheme would comply with the requirement of sub-section (2) of Section 139AA of the Act." (See: ibid.) Given the near universal coverage of the Aadhaar attained by now, ***almost*** everybody comes under that category. Regardless of the concerns expressed as regards data leakage, in the judgement itself, accompanied by some pious prescriptions. Even if one just disregards, for the moment, all other legitimate concerns. To sum up, it's yet another ***very bad*** judgement. The reasons, in brief, are as under. I. The extent of the problem of fake PAN cards has just not been established, in absence of any reliable data. (To be fair, the judgement, has referred to some figure - "11.35 lakhs (sic)", suggesting a huge problem. Compare this with: "As recently as four years ago, in 2013, the government told Lok Sabha that the total number of fake PAN cards detected by authorities between 2009 and 2013 was only 509." Ref.: 'Why Duplicate PAN Cards Are Not as Big an Issue as the Modi Government Claims' at <https://thewire.in/135148/duplicate-pan-cards/>.) The problem of data leakage has (at least implicitly) been acknowledged. And, the overwhelming majority of Indian population have been coerced, for whom cajolement just didn't work, by making the use of Aadhhaar mandatory for an endless list of purposes. Now, only a handful, other than the kids, are left out. Yet, the judgement makes the linking of the two numbers mandatory, practically, for all, with a very few exceptions. II. "(T)he order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 11.08.2015 as modified by the Order of the Constitution Bench dated 15.10.2015, emphatically mandates that the Aadhaar number will not be used by the Respondents for any purpose other than the PDS Scheme, LPG Distribution Scheme, MGNREGS, National Social Assistance Programme (Old Age Pensions, Widow Pensions, Disability Pensions), Prime Minister's Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), and that it would be voluntary." (Source: <http://www.kractivist.org/military-pensions-linking-with-aadhaar-challenged/>.) This judgement is a clear violation of the above while this bench has no authority to do so. Sukla] SC Says S.139AA Of IT ACT Constitutionally Valid, But Partially Stays Its Operation [Read Judgment] BY: LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK JUNE 9, 2017 3:26 PM... Supreme Court of India on Friday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 139AA of Income Tax Act which made mandatory linkage of IT returns with Aadhaar. However the Court has partially stayed the operation of the Section subject to the outcome of the Constitution Bench Judgment in the main Aadhaar Case in which the very validity of Aadhaar is challenged. The Bench has made it clear that those who don’t have Aadhaar need not apply for it for the purpose of filing IT returns. The Court also said that S.139AA has no retrospective effect. Snipped -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
