The Supreme Court has ruled that the Election Commission of India (ECI) must accept the Aadhaar card as a valid form of identification for the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, specifically as the 12th document for voter registration. The court has sanctioned the use of Aadhaar for identification purposes while also affirming the right of authorities to confirm its genuineness. The court clarified that the Aadhaar card does not serve as proof of citizenship.
Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, on the bench, referenced the Aadhaar Act, which does not recognize the card as citizenship proof, but acknowledges it for establishing identity under the Representation of the People’s Act. The court has instructed the ECI to issue relevant directives to its officials. This ruling addressed concerns raised by RJD and others, who alleged that the ECI was not permitting the standalone use of Aadhaar cards for electoral roll inclusion. Prior to this, the Supreme Court had already stated that those excluded from the Bihar electoral roll during the SIR process could present Aadhaar cards to object to their exclusion, thereby ensuring that eligible voters are not disenfranchised. The court indicated that objections could be filed with either the 11 ECI-listed documents or an Aadhaar card.