Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the Aadhaar verdict: "It is a historic order, Aadhaar's concept has been accepted after judicial  review. We welcome this decision of the Supreme Court.


"Congress cuts a very sorry figure here, they introduced the idea but they did not know what to do with it. Everyone who has been criticizing Aadhaar should understand that they cannot defy technology. Mainstream should accept changes, one can understand the fringe being against."


Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, also lauded the verdict saying it is a good and progressive judgement. "It will bring efficiency in the country. The Supreme Court has said that this (Aadhaar) has stood the test of constitutionality."


The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the Centres flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held that while Aadhaar would remain mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number, it would not be mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and the telecom service providers cannot seek its linking for mobile connections. Read the full verdict here