The Supreme Court  directed that the Aadhaar card must be treated as the 12th document for the purpose of identity to include voters in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. While it has validated the use of Aadhaar card for documentation purpose, the apex court has clarified that authorities shall be entitled to verify the authenticity and genuineness of the Aadhaar card itself.  The Supreme Court has also stressed that the Aadhaar will not be accepted as proof of citizenship.

What Did Supreme Court Say?

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that, as per the Aadhaar Act, the Aadhaar card is not proof of citizenship. However, in the Representation of the People’s Act, the Aadhaar card is one document for the purpose of establishing the identity of any person.

The top court has asked the Election Commission of India to issue instructions about the acceptance of the Aadhaar card as the 12th document to its officials. Notably, the Supreme Court was hearing pleas of RJD and others claiming that the ECI officials were not accepting the Aadhaar card as a stand-alone document for inclusion in the electoral roll.

Earlier on August 22, the Supreme Court stated that individuals excluded from the draft electoral roll in Bihar during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process can submit Aadhaar card along with the required form to object to their exclusion. The clarification came as part of efforts to ensure that eligible voters are not left out of the electoral process.

The Bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, had stated that individuals can submit their objections using “Any of the 11 documents listed in Form 6 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or their Aadhaar card.” This implied that people can use Aadhaar as proof to get themselves included in the voters’ list.