Supreme Court: School leaving certificate, not Aadhaar, decides legal age
India
The Supreme Court made it clear: Aadhaar is not per se proof of date of birth.
If you ever need to verify how old you are (especially in legal matters), it is your school leaving certificate that counts, as per the Juvenile Justice Act.
This decision overturns an earlier High Court ruling and settles some confusion.
Road accident compensation dispute over age
This all started with a road accident compensation case, where the payout changed drastically depending on which document was used for age.
The Supreme Court stepped in and said only educational records should decide someone's age, not what is printed on an Aadhaar card.
Even the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said before that Aadhaar is mainly for ID, not age proof.