Aadhaar accepted for Bihar SIR only as ID proof: Poll panel in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Election Commission on Wednesday told Supreme Court that during the special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls, Aadhaar number of a person was accepted, according to SC's directive, as proof of identity but not as a document to establish Indian citizenship .

Responding to an application filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeking clarification to the effect that EC must not allow Aadhaar as proof of citizenship as it could enable illegal migrants to register as voters, the poll panel in a late evening affidavit said neither Aadhaar Act nor court orders permitted use of Aadhaar as proof of citizenship.

"The commission is conscious of its responsibilities to ensure that the purity and integrity of electoral roll is maintained and only eligible persons as per Article 326 of the Constitution, that is those of 18 years of age and citizens of India and fulfilling residency requirements, are enrolled," EC said.

On Sept 8, SC directed EC and its officials to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of Bihar and to treat it as the 12th document for the purpose of identity verification purposes.

In response to another application by Upadhyay seeking SIR of voters' lists of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry where assembly elections are due next year, EC said it had already issued an order on June 24 stating SIR would be conducted for the entire country, the state-wise schedule for which would be issued separately in due course.