New Delhi, Sep 26: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said bank accounts and mobile numbers don't need to be linked with the 12-digit biometric Aadhaar. The Supreme Court further upheld Section 139AA mandating linkage with PAN which means Aadhaar will remain mandatory for Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Income Tax Returns linking.

The Court struck down the section 57 of Aadhaar Act as a result of which private companies cannot ask for Aadhaar card. It further added saying that the government needs to ensure that illegal migrants do not get Aadhaar card. The first of the three judgements was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri. Sikri pronounced the judgement for himself, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar. Aadhaar Declared Constitutionally Valid by Supreme Court, But It's Not Mandatory to Link it With Bank Accounts, Mobile Numbers.

The Apex Court had earlier made it mandatory to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers, PAN and other welfare schemes. A government notification said that if an individuals fail to link the bank account with Aadhaar, their accounts would cease to operate. The Apex Court said no mobile company can demand Aadhaar card and asked the central government to introduce a strong data protection law as soon as possible. Catch LIVE Updates of Aadhaar Verdict by Supreme Court.

The Income Tax Act was amended in March 2017 to make Aadhaar mandatory for PAN cards. On June 1, 2017, PML Rules have been amended to make Aadhaar mandatory for linking all bank accounts, insurance, pension, mutual funds and DMAT accounts.

The government has made it mandatory for verifying bank account and PAN to weed out black money and bring unaccounted wealth to book. The same for SIM has been mandated to establish the identity of mobile phone users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2018 11:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).