Original petitioner satisfied by SC's take on Aadhar validity

Retired Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, one of the first to question the legality of Aadhaar, on Wednesday welcomed the landmark Supreme Court judgment upholding its validity but restricting it to disbursement of social benefits.

"After holistic consideration, my opinion is that the majority judgment on the validity of Aadhaar Act is correct though I have not read the whole judgment yet," the 92-year-old retired Karnataka High Court judge told the media here.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held that Aadhaar would be voluntary and not mandatory with an option to exit.

On linking of Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory, the retired judge said those who pay income tax are limited and they belong to a separate class.