Supreme Court says Aadhaar not mandatory for NEET, other all India exams

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrollment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all India exams.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief justice Dipak Misra directed the CBSE to upload the information on their website.

Earlier in the day, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had told the apex court that it has not authorised CBSE to mandatorily take Aadhaar number of students to get themselves enrolled for appearing in NEET 2018 examination.

Attorney General K K Venugopal had said he has instructions from UIDAI that like in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam, other identity proofs like passport, voter card and ration card can be used by the CBSE for enrolling students in the examination.

The UIDAI's remarks came on a plea challenging the decision of CBSE seeking the Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrolment number mandatorily from students who are aspiring to take the NEET 2018 examination.

The Gujarat High Court had dismissed the plea on February 27. The appeal in Supreme Court challenges the order of Gujarat High Court.