Bihar SIR: SC asks EC to accept Aadhaar as identity proof, not citizenship

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that Aadhaar card "must" be included as an identity proof of voters in the special intensive revision exercise of electoral rolls in Bihar and gave the Election Commission the course of the day to implement the direction.

Adding the Aadhaar card to the list of 11 prescribed documents in the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made it clear the Aadhaar will not be a proof of citizenship.

In its order on the much debated issue, the apex court said the Election Commission can ascertain the genuineness of Aadhaar card number submitted by an elector for inclusion in the electoral roll.

The top court also sought EC’s explanation on showcause notices it issued to poll officials for not accepting Aadhaar card from voters.

"It is clarified that Aadhaar will also be included as an identity document for inclusion/identification of voters in Bihar," the bench said, adding, "Aadhaar shall be treated as 12th document by the EC. However, it is open for the authorities to examine the validity and genuineness of Aadhaar submitted by the voters. It is clarified that Aadhaar will not be treated as proof of citizenship."

At the moment for Bihar SIR, there are 11 prescribed documents which electors have to submit with their enumeration forms for inclusion into the electoral roll.

The order brings Aadhaar at par with other prescribed documents including passport, birth certificate as valid proof of identity.

According to EC's June 24 notification, the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on September 30.

Observing nobody wants the EC to include illegal immigrants in the electoral roll, the bench stressed only genuine citizens will be allowed to vote and those claiming to be genuine on the basis of forged documents will be excluded from the electoral roll.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Shoeb Alam, appearing for RJD alleged despite three orders of the apex court asking the poll panel to accept Aadhaar cards as a valid proof of identity, the EC wasn't accepting it and even issuing showcause notices to poll officials, who were accepting it from electors.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, submitted 99.6 per cent of the 7.24 crore voters in the draft roll had submitted documents and the petitioners' plea to include Aadhaar as the 12th prescribed document would not serve any practical purpose.

The bench referred to provisions of Aadhaar Act of 2016 and the Representation of Peoples Act and said Aadhaar couldn't be elevated to as a proof of citizenship but could only be considered as a proof of identity.

Justice Bagchi said of the 11 prescribed documents listed for Bihar SIR, only passport and birth certificates were conclusive proofs.

"Aadhaar is not alien to the Representation of People Act and Section 23 (4) of the Act allows Aadhaar as a proof of identity," he said.

Justice Bagchi added, "The statute as well as judicial decisions says that Aadhaar is not a valid proof of citizenship. But it is indeed a proof of identity and has some value as per statutes. You should examine it." The bench during the hearing told Sibal that Aadhaar alone couldn't be a valid proof of citizenship and had to be accompanied by other documents.

Sibal said he did not want Aadhaar to be accepted as proof citizenship but a valid proof of identity for voters, as booth level officers (BLO) couldn't determine a person's citizenship.

Dwivedi, however, submitted the petitioners actually wanted Aadhaar to be considered as a proof of citizenship and warned against "misuse".

"Petitioners want Aadhaar to be used as a proof of citizenship. We cannot allow that misuse. Around 99.6 per cent have submitted one of the 11 prescribed documents. This court has allowed Aadhaar to be used for 65 lakh people who were excluded from the draft roll. Now, over 250 people have filed their claim using Aadhaar. This is not even 1,000 people. For whom they are seeking Aadhaar is a question to be asked. We must look at the holistic picture," he said.

Dwivedi said for the purpose of electoral roll, the EC had the power to look into citizenship, claiming to have detected around 0.3 per cent illegal immigrants.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who has sought SIR in other states like Assam and West Bengal, said if Aadhaar was allowed, then the entire revision exercise would be futile as illegal immigrants, including Rohingyas would turn voters.

The bench reiterated in India every document can be forged but the genuineness can be ascertained by the authorities.

The top court posted the hearing for September 15 and asked the EC to publish the order on its website.

The poll panel had previously said claims and objections in the draft electoral roll under the SIR exercise could be filed beyond September 1 but these would be considered once the electoral roll was finalised.

The SIR of voter list in Bihar -- the first since 2003 -- sparked a huge political row, with the opposition parties alleging that the exercise is aimed at depriving people of their right to vote.

The EC has maintained SIR's purpose was to clean the voter list by deleting names of people who are dead, possess duplicate voter cards or illegal immigrants.

The SIR's findings reduced the total number of registered voters in Bihar, from 7.9 crore before the exercise to 7.24 crore after conducting it.