Deadline to link PAN-Aadhaar extended till June 30

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to extend the Mar. 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar with government schemes and benefits.

A Five-Judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said: “We will not pass any interim order at this stage,” and added that the petitioner may argue this aspect in their rejoinder submissions.

This comes days after the SC ordered an indefinite extension to the Mar. 31 deadline for mandatory linking of biometric identifier with bank accounts and mobile phones.

Earlier, senior advocate Shyam Divan, who had led the arguments challenging Aadhaar and its enabling Act, said that the deadline of Mar. 31 be extended as it was highly unlikely that the hearing in the case challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act will be concluded.

It may be recalled that on Dec. 15, 2017, the Apex Court had extended the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes till Mar. 31, 2018.

Deadline to link PAN- Aadhaar: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline from the current last date of Mar. 31 to June 30, 2018. The order said the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linking for filing I-T returns is being extended after “consideration of the matter.”

This is a fourth extension given by the government for individuals to link their PAN with their Aadhaar. The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.