Aadhaar linking deadline may be extended even after March 31st

New Delhi, March 07: The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that if required it might consider extending the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes as well as mobile phones and bank accounts.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra hearing a bunch of petitions against the Aadhaar law that the Centre had extended the deadline in the past too and it can do so again.

"If required, we can do it again," Venugopal said after petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme sought an extension of the deadline to link the 12-digit unique identity number with various government schemes and services.