The Supreme Court today reserved its interim order for tomorrow on a batch of pleas seeking a stay on the government's decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various welfare schemes, as the Centre extended the deadline up to March 31 next year.<br/><br/>A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, the final hearing on the petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme itself will commence from January 17 next year.<br/><br/>Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing the Centre, said, the government was willing to extend the deadline up to March 31 next year for mandatory linking of the national<br/>biometric identifier to avail the benefit of various services and welfare measures. <br/><br/>He, however, told the bench that the Aadhaar should be allowed to remain mandatory for the opening of new bank accounts.<br/><br/>The government had yesterday issued a notification to extend till March 31 the deadline for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) for bank accounts and certain financial transactions. <br/><br/>However, there is no word on extending the February 6, 2018 deadline for linking mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar.<br/><br/>On the issue of linking of Aadhaar card with mobile services, the Attorney General said, the deadline of February 6 next year was fixed in pursuance of an apex court direction and the constitution bench may consider extending this deadline also.