As per a circular issued by the Supreme Court of India on January 22, petitions challenging the validity of UIDAI Aadhaar card may soon be heard by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India.
Listed as item seven on the list, the batch of petitions will be heard from next week with its first working day on January 27. Matters in the list will be heard on Mondays and Fridays at 2 pm. [Constitution bench matters are being heard on Mondays and Fridays which are Miscellaneous days. However January 27 is also a Miscellaneous day as court reopens on Wednesday and the bench would sit on January 27 as well]
Earlier on August 11, 2015, a three judge bench headed by Justice Chelameswar had referred the Aadhaar challenge to a larger bench, allowing its usage for few services but ordering the card to remain non-mandatory in the interim. However on October 11, 2105, hearing certain applications filed by the Union of India, few states and other authorities, Constitution Bench had further extended the usage of Aadhaar for more services.
The composition of the Constitution bench which sits on January 27 is:
- Chief Justice of India TS Thakur,
- Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla,
- Justice A.K. Sikri,
- Justice S.A. Bobde, and
- Justice R. Banumathi.
