The Supreme Court has on Wednesday said that the Aadhaar scheme is Constitutionally valid.  Further, it gave several important directives.  

"There is no need to link bank accounts and mobile numbers to Aadhar," the SC said.  However, the Aadhar card is mandatory for PAN linking as well as for filing Income Tax return.  

The SC made it clear that individuals and corporates cannot collect Aadhar data from now.  Illegal immigrants become ineligible to get Aadhar card.  Aadhar is now NOT compulsory for school admissions.  

"No person can be denied any state benefit only due to absence of Aadhar," the SC noted.  

The apex court has done away with Section 57 of Aadhaar Act, which permits private entities to avail Aadhar-related data. "Robust data protection regime has to be brought in place as early as possible," the judgment says.  The Aadhar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months, it added.