Bihar SIR: Supreme Court tells EC to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity

In an important development amidst the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Supreme Court on Monday issued instructions to the Election Commission of India to include Aadhaar as a 12th prescribed document. As per the orders of the top court, Aadhaar can be used to establish the identity of a voter as part of the Bihar SIR exercise.

Earlier, the Election Commission had mandated 11 prescribed documents that electors could submit along with their enumeration forms to establish their identity. That list excluded Aadhaar.

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The SC bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, also stated that Aadhaar will not be considered proof of citizenship, and the poll panel was at liberty to establish the genuineness of the Aadhaar card number submitted by an elector.

The court said it was everyone’s intention to include only genuine citizens in the electoral roll, adding that nobody wants the EC to include illegal immigrants in the voter list. The court made it clear that anyone submitting a forged document will be excluded from the Bihar voter list.

The poll panel was also instructed by the Supreme Court to issue the required directions to its officials so that Aadhaar can be accepted as a document for proof of identity.

The Supreme Court, during the hearing, also demanded the poll panel’s explanation on the show-cause notices it had issued to poll officials for rejecting the Aadhaar Card from the voters.

As per the schedule issued by the Election Commission on June 24, the last day for filing claims and objections to the draft roll post the Bihar SIR exercise was September 1, and the finalised electoral roll will be released by the poll panel on September 30.