New Delhi — The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued a significant directive concerning the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, stating that Aadhaar will be treated as one of the twelve documents required for voter verification. The ruling came from a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi during a hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) revision process.
The top court specified that “Aadhaar card issued under the Aadhaar Act 2016 shall be accepted for the purpose of establishing identity of the exclusion or inclusion being carried out in the revised electoral list process, and that it shall be treated as the 12th document.”
However, the court also emphasized a critical distinction: Aadhaar is a proof of identity, not a proof of citizenship. The bench reiterated that only genuine citizens are entitled to vote and that authorities are permitted to verify the authenticity of any document, including Aadhaar.
The decision was a response to arguments from petitioners, including political parties, who expressed concern over the potential disenfranchisement of voters due to the ECI’s stringent documentation requirements. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, highlighted that in some cases, even people on the existing voter list were being excluded. He questioned why Aadhaar, a widely held document, was not being accepted.
“We are racing against time,” Sibal argued, “Booth Level Officers (BLO) can’t decide on citizenship… Let Aadhaar be accepted if I am on the voter list.”
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Election Commission, stated that 99.6% of the 7.24 crore electors had already submitted the required documents. He opposed giving Aadhaar a standalone status as proof of citizenship, citing concerns about a high prevalence of fraudulent Aadhaar cards, especially in some Bihar districts.
Justice Kant countered this by asking for the ECI’s objections if Aadhaar was simply accepted as a 12th document. “Nobody is asking illegal immigrants to be allowed,” he said. “We know Aadhaar is proof of identity and not citizenship… Suppose this is the 12th document, what is the issue?”
The Supreme Court had previously noted that a significant number of voters could be excluded due to the lack of specified documents. The ECI has maintained that the SIR is a crucial exercise to clean up the voter rolls by deleting names of deceased persons, duplicate entries, and illegal immigrants. The final electoral roll for Bihar is scheduled to be published on September 30.