In the ongoing voter list revision program (SIR) in Bihar, now the Aadhaar card will also be accepted as a document. The Supreme Court has said that Aadhaar should also be included as 12th documents by the 11 documents which were declared valid by the Election Commission.

However, the court has made it clear that Aadhaar is just an identity document, it cannot be considered as evidence of citizenship. It is the job of the Election Commission to confirm his citizenship before including the name of a person in the voter list.

Petitioner side emphasized for Aadhaar

All the lawyers of the petitioner side, including senior advocate Kapil Sibal, presented for the main opposition party of Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal, laid special emphasis on getting Aadhaar in SIR documents. Sibal said, ‘The Supreme Court has also asked Aadhaar to accept Aadhaar as a document, but the Election Commission is ignoring it. The officials who accepted Aadhaar are being sent a show cause notice.

Election Commission protested

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, strongly opposed this argument. He said, “The Supreme Court had also asked Aadhaar to accept Aadhaar as a document for 65 lakh people left in the draft list.”

Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said, ‘The Election Commission is following it. Many people are also uploading the copy of Aadhaar online. The Commission sees Aadhaar as an identity card, it cannot be considered as evidence of citizenship.

‘Intruders should not benefit’

Dwivedi also said that if Aadhaar is included as the only document, it will benefit illegal intruders. On this, Justice Surya Kant, who is presiding over the bench of 2 judges, said, ‘Nobody would want people living in India to be in the voter list illegally. The right to vote is only for Indian citizens.

‘Documents of Aadhaar Voter’s Identity’

The member of the bench, Judge Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, ‘It is clear in the Aadhaar Act that there is no evidence of Aadhaar citizenship, but we have to see Section 23 (4) of the Representation of People Act. In it, Aadhaar has been called one of the documents confirming the identity of the voter.

Court order

On this, the Election Commission counsel reiterated that there is no problem in accepting Aadhaar as a document related to identity. It cannot be considered the only document to include the name in the voter list. After this, the court wrote the order and said, ‘Aadhaar should be considered as the 12th document. The Election Commission can confirm the validity of the deposited Aadhaar. Aadhaar will not be considered as evidence of citizenship. The court said that the next hearing of the case will be held on September 15.

What has happened so far?

Assembly elections are due in Bihar in November this year. On June 24, the Election Commission issued an order and spoke about the special revision (SIR) of the voter list in the state. Many opposition leaders and NGOs reached the Supreme Court against it. The court refused to stop SIR, recognizing the constitutional and legal powers of the Election Commission.

The draft list of SIR was released on 1 August. 65 lakh people of the old voter list could not find place in it. The time to file an objection/claim on the draft list was only till 1 September, the court did not extend it forward. The final list of SIR is to come on 30 September. The Election Commission has said that even after the final list is released, it will consider the applications being filed to include the name.

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