SC asks EC to consider Aadhaar as identity proof for SIR in Bihar, clarifies it is not proof of citizenship

Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission of India to consider accepting Aadhaar as a document to establish the identity of voters in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, while making it clear that Aadhaar cannot be treated as proof of citizenship.

However, it directed ECI to ascertain genuineness of Aadhaar submitted for establishing identity of voters in the east Indian state.

The apex court gave the directions while hearing pleas challenging ECI's decision to conduct SIR in poll bound Bihar.

Only genuine citizens will be allowed to vote, those claiming to be genuine on basis of forged documents will be excluded, the Supreme Court further observed.

Moreover, the top court asked India's election body to consider Aadhaar as the "12th prescribed document for establishing identity of voters in Bihar".

'No one wants illegal immigrants on electoral roll': SC

Currently, ECI's guidelines allow electors to submit any of 11 prescribed documents along with their enumeration forms.

Noting that no one wants illegal immigrants on the electoral roll, the SC bench headed by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, said only genuine citizens should be allowed to vote, while those using forged documents must be excluded.

Furthermore, SC directed the Election Commission (EC) to issue instructions during the day for accepting Aadhaar as a valid document to establish identity in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The court also sought an explanation from the EC over showcause notices served to poll officials who had refused to accept Aadhaar cards from voters.

Appearing for the EC, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi argued that 99.6 per cent of Bihar’s 7.24 crore voters had already submitted documents and that including Aadhaar as a 12th option would serve “no practical purpose.”

The bench, while citing provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Representation of the People Act, stressed that Aadhaar cannot be treated as proof of citizenship but may be used as proof of identity.

Court clarifies claims and objections process under SIR

During the hearing, the court also addressed confusion around the SIR process.

On September 1, while considering applications by political parties for an extension of deadlines, the EC had told the court that claims, objections and corrections in the draft electoral roll could still be filed, but would only be taken up once the final roll was ready.

It clarified that such claims and objections could be made until the last date of nomination in each assembly constituency.

Calling the situation “largely a trust issue,” the bench asked the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to help voters and political parties file claims and objections to the draft roll, which was published on August 1.

The EC, opposing an extension of the September 1 deadline, said that following the Supreme Court’s August 22 order, it had received 22,723 claims for inclusion and 1,34,738 objections for exclusion up to August 30.

As per the EC’s June 24 schedule for the Bihar SIR, claims and objections closed on September 1, while the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on September 30.