Binoy Visman has challenged Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, which makes Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax returns. This has come up for hearing before the Supreme Court bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan.

In explaining the logic for such a requirement, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said: “We have found people are having fake PAN cards and having lots of properties. That is why Aadhaar is the only way to track people.

“As far as SIM cards go, there is no legislative mandate, so we have brought Aadhaar into the picture,” he added.

The petitioner’s counsel said: “The consequence of this is that if I don’t present my Aadhaar card then my PAN card is invalid.”

The matter is listed for April 25 for final disposal.

—By India Legal Bureau