SC Allows Aadhaar as 12th ID Proof in Bihar Voter Roll Revision

• By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
• Sep 08, 2025
• 826

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept Aadhaar cards as the 12th prescribed identity document in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

Currently, Bihar’s SIR rules allow 11 types of identity documents along with enumeration forms. With Aadhaar’s inclusion, the apex court clarified that while the unique ID can serve as proof of identity, it cannot establish citizenship.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi emphasized that the EC must verify the authenticity of Aadhaar numbers submitted and ensure that only genuine citizens are added to the rolls. “Nobody wants illegal immigrants in the electoral roll. Only genuine citizens can vote,” the bench observed, directing the poll body to issue instructions within the day.

The court also asked the ECI to explain why show-cause notices had been served to officials who refused to accept Aadhaar earlier.

EC’s Stand

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, argued that Aadhaar’s inclusion serves “no practical purpose” since 99.6% of Bihar’s 7.24 crore voters in the draft roll had already submitted valid documents.

Trust Gap in Bihar

The bench, while referring to the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Representation of the People Act, said the row over SIR was “largely a trust issue.” It directed the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to help citizens file claims and objections.

The ECI’s schedule had fixed September 1 as the deadline for claims and objections, with the final roll to be published on September 30. However, during earlier hearings, the poll panel said claims and corrections filed after the cut-off could still be considered, albeit only after publication of the final roll.

Between August 22–30, the EC received 22,723 inclusion claims and 1,34,738 exclusion objections.