For the "first time", the government has disclosed that an Aadhaar card holder also has the option to block his/her card along with the biometric information linked to their card, reported The Indian Express.

The government made the information public on Wednesday while arguing before the Supreme Court that Aadhaar is "purely voluntary". A Constitution Bench had sought to know from the government the nature of the Aadhaar cards made under the UADAI, states the report.

“The making of the card is voluntary. Using the card is voluntary and not only this, a card holder can block it too. If a person wants to block the information about him contained in the biometric database, he can do it voluntarily and nobody will be able to unblock it. Such information will be locked till he wants,” the report quotes Rohatgi as saying.

The Indian Express report further states, "After a three-judge bench had refused to modify its directive restricting Aadhaar’s use to public distribution system and LPG subsidy, the law officer was seeking the Constitution Bench’s nod so that Aadhaar could be used for the government’s ambitious plans such as Digital India, and by Reserve Bank of India and various regulators."

The option was introduced a while back following opposition from activists who stated that it did not give persons the choice to de-register once they enrolled, sources told the paper.