New Delhi: In a significant ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court of India has mandated the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept Aadhaar as the twelfth valid document for voter identity verification in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi intervened following concerns that election officials were rejecting Aadhaar despite earlier court guidance.
Quoting the ruling directly, the Supreme Court held: “The Aadhaar card shall be treated as the 12th document by the ECI. However, it is open for the authorities to examine the validity and genuineness of the Aadhaar card itself. It is clarified that Aadhaar will not be treated as a proof of citizenship.”
The Court further directed the Election Commission to “issue instructions to its field officials … during the course of the day,” ensuring immediate implementation of the order.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), highlighted the ground-level resistance in court. He said that booth-level officials were issuing warnings against accepting Aadhaar, stating, “Booth-level officers (BLOs) are being hauled up for accepting Aadhaar. We can show notices being issued by electoral registration officers which say no other document except the 11 notified ones will be accepted.” When questioned whether he sought voter status to be determined solely based on Aadhaar, Sibal responded: “I am already there in the electoral roll of 2025. Where is the question of proving anything? BLOs cannot determine my citizenship.”
In response, ECI’s counsel, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, maintained that while Aadhaar was being accepted, it “cannot be a proof of citizenship.” He defended the Commission’s constitutional mandate to scrutinize citizenship during roll preparation:
“There are provisions in the Constitution where an MP ceases to be a citizen and the President acts on the advice of the ECI. Similarly, for preparing rolls, the ECI can look into citizenship.”
Key Takeaways:
Aadhaar is now formally recognized as a valid identity and residence document in Bihar’s SIR process.
Citizenship cannot be inferred from Aadhaar—additional documentation may still be required for that purpose.
Immediate field-level directives will be issued by the ECI to ensure compliance with this ruling.
