The EC communique to the Bihar CEO said that Aadhaar should be accepted as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act 2016. File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday (September 9, 2025) directed Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer to issue instructions for accepting Aadhaar among the documents that can be submitted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State, a day after the Supreme Court order to this effect.
In its June 24 SIR order, the EC had given an indicative list of 11 documents to be given as proof of birth and residence along with enumeration forms.
The Supreme Court had on Monday (September 8, 2025) during a hearing on a petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) directed the EC to include Aadhaar as the 12th in the list of ‘indicative’ documents, any of which persons seeking inclusion or exclusion in the electoral roll of Bihar could file as proof, during the ongoing SIR process.
The EC communique to the Bihar CEO on Tuesday said that Aadhaar should be accepted as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act 2016.
It also noted that under the Representation of People Act, 1950, Aadhaar is already one of the documents listed for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person.
The draft electoral rolls of Bihar published on August 1 have excluded 65 lakh people who were present in the earlier voter lists, citing deaths, migration and duplication among other reasons.
After the last SC order on accepting Aadhaar in cases where no other documents were available, the EC had said that all voters challenging the deletion of their names in the draft rolls could file claims along with a copy of their Aadhaar card in the absence of any of the 11 indicative documents. The poll body said such applications would get a hearing from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) who would then take a call on the inclusion or exclusion of the names from the final list.
As per the SIR order issued on June 24, the ERO has powers to scrutinise all claims and conduct suo motu inquiry as well as issue notice to any elector.
Published – September 09, 2025 11:10 pm IST