SC Allows Aadhaar for Bihar Voter Rolls
Bench clarifies Aadhaar not proof of citizenship; directs EC to issue instructions for acceptance in special intensive revision exercise
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to include Aadhaar as the 12th prescribed document for establishing the identity of a voter in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. Till now, there were 11 documents which the electors were supposed to submit with their enumeration forms.
A two-judge bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that Aadhaar will not be regarded as proof of citizenship and the ECI can ascertain the genuineness of the Aadhaar number submitted by an elector for inclusion in the electoral roll.
Observing that nobody wanted the EC to include illegal immigrants in the electoral roll, the apex court said it should be clear that only genuine citizens would be allowed to vote and those claiming to be genuine on the basis of forged documents would be excluded from the electoral roll.
The top court asked the poll panel to issue necessary directions in the course of the day for acceptance of Aadhaar as a document for proof of identity. It also sought ECI’s explanation on showcause notices it has issued to poll officials for not accepting the Aadhaar card from voters. The top court posted the matter for hearing on September 15.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the ECI, said 99.6 per cent of the 7.24 crore voters in the draft roll had submitted documents, and petitions seeking the inclusion of Aadhaar as the 12th document would not serve any practical purpose.
The top court referred to provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Representation of the People Act and said it was not a proof of citizenship but could be considered a proof of identity.
On September 1, the top court, hearing some applications filed by political parties for extension of deadlines, was informed by the poll panel that claims, objections and corrections in the draft electoral roll could be filed beyond September 1, but these would be considered once the electoral roll is finalised.
It said that claims and objections in the draft roll could be filed till the last date of nomination forms in each Assembly constituency.
The top court also termed the confusion over the Bihar SIR as "largely a trust issue", and directed the state legal service authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to assist individual voters and political parties in filing claims and objections to the draft roll, which was published on August 1.
Opposing any extension of the September 1 deadline, the poll panel had submitted that after the top court’s August 22 order, till August 30, only 22,723 claims had been filed for inclusion and 1,34,738 objections had been filed for exclusion.
According to the June 24 schedule of the poll panel for the Bihar SIR, the deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft roll ended on September 1, and the final electoral roll will be published on September 30.