The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that a five-judge Constitution bench will decide on all Aadhaar-related matters on July 18 and 19. The apex court has been hearing three separate petitions, challenging the government’s notification making Aadhaar mandatory for availing several social welfare schemes benefits.

The apex court added that the Constitution bench will decide whether the Aadhaar matter should be referred to a nine-judge bench. This came after Attorney General KK Venugopal pointed out that an earlier eight-judge bench had already ruled that the right to privacy is not a fundamental right, reported The Times of India.

Venugopal also asked for an urgent hearing. He said the schemes impact millions of people, hence a decision needs to be made immediately, reported The Hindu.

On July 7, the Supreme Court had recommended setting up a Constitutional bench to decide all Aadhaar-related matters. The three-judge bench had asked the Centre and petitioners to urge the chief justice of India to set up the panel.

On June 27, a vacation bench had rejected a plea to pass an interim order against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s notification to make Aadhaar mandatory when applying for social welfare schemes. The top court, however, did say that those without Aadhaar cards could not be deprived of any government schemes or benefits till the next hearing.