The Supreme Court ruled that the Election Commission (EC) must accept Aadhaar as a valid proof of identity for re-verifying voters ahead of the Bihar Assembly election. Aadhaar will now join 11 other accepted documents for this process.
Court’s Order on Aadhaar Inclusion
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued a verbal order saying Aadhaar cards should be accepted as the 12th document to confirm identity when adding or removing voters from the electoral roll.
Election Commission’s Objections Overruled
The EC argued that since 99.6% of voters had already submitted valid documents, including Aadhaar now would be pointless. The court rejected this argument and insisted Aadhaar be accepted.
Concerns Over Forgery Addressed
While the EC raised concerns that Aadhaar cards might be forged and are not proof of citizenship, the court said election officials can verify the authenticity of Aadhaar. It also noted that forgery risks exist with other accepted documents too.
Notices to Officials for Not Accepting Aadhaar
The court asked the EC to explain why notices were sent to officials who refused to accept Aadhaar cards from voters.
Petitions Against Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
Several petitions challenge the EC’s special voter list revision (SIR) in Bihar. Opposition parties like Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) claim the revision aims to exclude voters from their support base. Congress also accused the BJP and EC of collusion in voter fraud.
Election Commission’s Defense
The EC insists the SIR is legal, constitutional, and transparent. It says the revision helped identify illegal voters, such as Nepali and Bangladeshi citizens, who should not vote.
Court’s View on Illegal Voters
The court agreed that only genuine Indian citizens should vote and said those using fake documents must be removed from the voter list.
It raised the question of what documents excluded voters could use to challenge their removal since Aadhaar was not previously allowed.
Political Parties Involved in Hearing
On August 22, the court included 12 political parties in the case and asked them to report on how they helped voters removed from the list.
Extension of Deadlines for Claims and Corrections
On September 1, the court heard requests for extending deadlines. The EC said claims and corrections can be submitted beyond September 1 but will be considered after finalizing the voter list.
Addressing Trust Issues and Assistance for Voters
The court said confusion over Bihar’s SIR mainly stems from a trust issue. It ordered deployment of paralegal volunteers to help voters and parties file claims and objections. The draft voter list was published on August 1.
Reduction in Bihar’s Voter Count
After the SIR, Bihar’s registered voters dropped from 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore.
