Bihar SIR: SC Asks EC To Consider Aadhaar As Document For Voter Identity, Clarifies Its Not Proof Of Citizenship

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Supreme Court of India on 8 September asked the Election Commission (EC) to consider Aadhaar as voter identity in Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR), clarifying its not citizenship proof, PTI reported. However, it also told EC to determine authenticity of Aadhaar submitted and consider including it as the 12th prescribed identity document.

The Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing the pleas challenging EC's SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.

It further urged the EC to consider issuing necessary directions for acceptance of Aadhaar in this case.

Earlier, the Court declined to extend the September 1 deadline for submitting claims and objections to the draft roll, noting that the ECI had assured it would still consider any such filings made after September 1 but before the final date for nominations, according to LiveLaw.

Regarding a request for directions to the ECI to accept the Aadhaar cards of approximately 7.24 crore voters whose enumeration forms had already been submitted, the Court advised the petitioners to present specific cases where the ECI had refused to accept Aadhaar from voters within this category.

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The Supreme Court described the confusion surrounding the Bihar SIR as "largely a trust issue" and instructed the State Legal Services Authority to deploy paralegal volunteers. These volunteers are to help individual voters and political parties in submitting claims and objections regarding the draft electoral roll, which was released on August 1, PTI report noted.

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The EC, which had opposed any extension to the September 1 deadline for submitting claims and objections as per the SIR timeline, informed the court that between August 22 and August 30, only 22,723 inclusion claims and 1,34,738 exclusion objections had been filed.

As per the EC's June 24 schedule for the Bihar SIR, the window for submitting claims and objections closed on September 1, and the final electoral roll is set to be published on September 30.

The Supreme Court also directed political parties to respond to a note submitted by the Election Commission.

Additionally, the court stated that the paralegal volunteers must submit confidential reports to the respective district judges, and the consolidated data for the entire state would be reviewed on September 8. It had emphasised that the EC must adhere to the procedures laid out in the June 24 order concerning the Bihar SIR and expressed concern over the unusually high number of objections filed seeking removal of names from the draft roll.

"Political parties need to activate themselves," it had mentioned.

The SIR of the voter list in Bihar, the first such exercise since 2003 , triggered significant political controversy, with opposition parties accusing it of being an attempt to disenfranchise voters. The Election Commission, however, defended the revision, stating that its purpose is to clean up the electoral roll by removing names of deceased individuals, duplicate entries, and those of illegal immigrants.

The total number of registered voters in Bihar dropped from 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore.

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