New Delhi, Mar 6: On being asked by the Supreme Court over what step the government would take if the clutch of petitions challenging the mandatory usage of Aadhaar is not deposed before March 31, Attorney General KK Venugopal said the deadline to link the unique identification number with various services would be extended.

The concern was first raised in the courtroom on Tuesday by senior advocate Arvind Datar, one of the counsel appearing on behalf of petitioners, who appealed the apex court to extend the Aadhaar linking deadline as the matter is unlikely to be concluded before March 31.

The SC bench, however, decided to pose the question to AG Venugopal. In his submission before the court, the latter replied, "We have extended the deadline in the past too. We can do it again. Let’s see how the hearing proceeds. If required, we can do it again."

Venugopal said the government would refrain from immediately postponing the last date for linking Aadhaar as it could compel the petitioners to take more time in concluding their arguments.

So far, only three lawyers representing the petitioners have presented their arguments before the court. They would be followed by four senior counsels, including advocate Datar.

After the petitioners conclude presenting their case, the bench would hear the defending arguments of the Centre, the UIDAI and the governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

After hearing both the sides, the five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra would begin writing the judgement. The entire process is expected to conclude way beyond the March 31 deadline.

The list of advocates who are yet to present the arguments on behalf of the petitioners include P Chidambaram, the former finance minister. The Congress veteran is likely to argue against the legal validity of the Aadhaar Act, which was rushed through the Parliament by the government as a Money Bill - in order to avoid the mandatory ascent of the Rajya Sabha.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 08:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).