Bihar SIR: SC declines to modify its order on allowing Aadhaar card as 12th document for identity proof

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to modify its September 8 order directing the Election Commission of India (ECI), which permitted the use of Aadhaar card as a 12th document for the proof of identity for the inclusion of a voter to the revised voters’ list being prepared as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said the direction passed by it last week was only interim in nature, and the issue of the document’s validity as proof is still open to be decided in the matter related to the SIR. Other documents like ration cards and driving licenses are also as susceptible to being forged as the Aadhaar card, and Aadhaar cannot be singled out and excluded on that ground, the apex court said.

“Driving licences can be forged, ration cards can be forged. Several documents can be forged. Aadhaar is to be utilised to the extent law permits,” said the bench. The top court was hearing an application of advocate Ashwini Upadhyay seeking modification of the September 8 order, contending that anybody can get an Aadhaar card by merely staying in India for 182 days, and it was neither a proof of citizenship nor residence.

He said there were lakhs of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Bihar, and allowing the use of the Aadhaar card would be “disastrous”. The ECI will consider disaster or absence of disaster, responded the bench. It, however, issued a notice to the ECI on Upadhyay’s application.

The apex court also said it was presuming that the poll panel, being a constitutional authority, was following the law during the SIR exercise and warned that the exercise would be set aside in case of any illegality. “What difference will it (the final publication of the list) make to us? If we are satisfied there is some illegality, we can…,” said Justice Kant.
It fixed October 7 for the hearing of final arguments on the validity of Bihar SIR.

“Our judgment in Bihar SIR will be applicable for pan-India SIR”, the bench said as it clarified that it can’t stop the ECI from conducting a similar exercise for revision of the electoral roll across the country.

The apex court had earlier refrained from issuing any direction to extend the deadline for submitting claims, objections or corrections to the electoral roll beyond September 1, after the ECI assured that even objections sent after this deadline would be considered before the electoral roll is finalised.

The top court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel’s move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.

The pleas sought direction to quash the ECI’s June 24 directive that requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls. The petitions also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar. (ANI)