Accept Aadhaar as proof of SIR for electoral rolls, Supreme Court tells EC

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as the 12th document for the purpose of establishing a person’s identity for inclusion in the electoral rolls during the special intensive revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar.

At present, there are 11 prescribed documents which Bihar electors have to submit with their enumeration forms for SIR. A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, however, clarified that Aadhaar was not a proof of citizenship and the Election Commission was entitled to verify its genuineness before adding the names of applicants to the electoral rolls.

Directing the poll panel to issue instructions in this regard to its officials in Bihar today itself, the top court listed the matter for further hearing on next Monday (September 15).

During the hearing on the petitions challenging the Election Commission’s June 24 SIR notification, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi told the Bench on behalf of the EC that it would conduct a similar exercise across the country. The EC claimed that 99.6 per cent of the 7.24 crore electors in the draft electoral rolls had already filed their eligibility documents.

Terming the confusion over the Bihar SIR as largely a trust issue, the top court had earlier directed the poll panel to allow those excluded from the draft roll to submit their claims through online mode, besides making physical submissions in the SIR exercise.

Amid demands from opposition political parties for extension of time for filing claims and objections with regard to the SIR in Bihar, the EC had told the Supreme Court that it could be done even after the September 1 deadline.

On August 1, the EC came out with the “draft electoral rolls” in Bihar, enlisting 7.24 crore voters. The final electoral roll will be out on September 30. Of the total 65 lakh voters removed from the draft electoral rolls, 22.34 lakh were dead and 36.28 lakh had permanently shifted or were absent while 7.01 lakh voters were enrolled at more than one places, the EC said.

The poll panel said that roughly 6.5 crore people of the total 7.9 crore voting population didn’t have to file any documents for them or their parents who featured in the 2003 electoral rolls.

However, the petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms, expressed the apprehension that a large number of voters will be disenfranchised.

On August 14, the Supreme Court had asked the EC to publish the details of 65 lakh deleted names from voters’ list and give reasons for their non-inclusion to enhance transparency in the SIR exercise in Bihar where the Assembly elections are to be held in October-November this year.