Supreme Court Clears Aadhaar Use in Voter Rolls

The Election Commission (EC) has been asked by the Supreme Court of India to accept Aadhaar as the 12 th valid document of identity verification during the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The move targets to avoid exclusion of the genuine voters based on absence of traditional documents, before the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Context

The EC had earlier approved 11 voter registration documents excluding Aadhaar. Nonetheless, petitions have pointed to instances where Aadhaar submissions were rejected by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and this has caused a concern of disenfranchisement. The court came in and broadened the list by emphasizing how Aadhaar could be utilised to verify identity but not to prove citizenship.

Aadhaar's Legal Position

In the Aadhaar Act, 2016, the card is identified as an identity, residence but not citizenship proof. The court made it clear that the decisions on citizenship are constitutional and not the BLOs. The document such as Aadhaar can be used in elections under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 as long as the authenticity checks are conducted.

Election Commission function.

The EC has the role of giving guidelines on the acceptable documents, as well as authenticating a doubtful one. As the directive of the court, now Aadhaar should be listed among the official list of the accepted documents. The EC will revise its guidelines so as to have an equal implementation process in Bihar.

Voter Inclusion Significance.

The ruling will help in minimizing voter disenfranchisement especially to those who do not have traditional identity papers. Although 99.6 % of the Bihar voters have already submitted documents, Aadhaar is another avenue to the remaining applicants. Nevertheless, the threat of fake Aadhaar cards explains why stringent verification measures are necessary.

List of Accepted Documents

The list now covers Aadhaar (as well as):

• Birth certificates
• Passports
• Matriculation certificates
• Permanent residence certificates.
• Forest and castes certificates.
• NRC records
• Family registers
• Identity cards issued by the government.
• Allotment Certificates of land.
• Pre-1987 government documents

Ongoing Concerns

Even with the directive, there is some indication that some of the BLOs continue to reject Aadhaar. The Supreme Court has granted further hearings to keep on track of compliance and examine petitions, which request routine nationwide SIR exercises. The problem is to strike a balance between voter inclusion and prevention of fraud in the electoral process.