Government strongly defends Aadhaar for PAN, says 'it creates a secure and robust system'

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday strongly defended its decision to link Aadhaar with PAN cards and has maintained that it is mandatory.

"Section 139 AA of the IT Act, which makes

Aadhaar mandatory for PAN

, curbs the use of fake PAN cards," government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"Aadhaar makes a secure and robust system through which the identity of a person cannot be faked," attorney general

Mukul Rohatgi

told the apex court.

"Government has saved over Rs 50,000 crore on benefits for poor due to Aadhaar," he told the court.

The Central government is entitled to have identification. As constituents of society, the people cannot claim immunity from identification, the AG said.

He added: "No right is absolute, right to body is not absolute. Under extreme cases, even right to life can be taken away under due process."