Election Commission must accept Aadhaar as proof of identity, says Supreme Court in voter roll revision case

The Election Commission must accept the Aadhaar as proof of identity, and include it on list of 11 other documents deemed 'valid' for re-verification of voters ahead of the Bihar Assembly election later this year, the Supreme Court said Monday in the 'special intensive revision' case.

In a verbal order issued in court this morning, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said Aadhaar cards should be accepted as the 12th document to establish identity of an individual for the purpose of inclusion in, or exclusion from, the electoral roll.

However, in a nod to the poll panel's earlier objection - that the Aadhaar could be forged and was, therefore, an unsuitable option to establish identity - the court said election officials could "verify the genuineness of the card" and that it could not be used to establish citizenship.

The order this morning echoes a July observation; the court pointed out then the risk of forgery - which the EC claimed had led it to rule out two other documents as well - could happen for any of the 11 it had allowed.

The top court is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's 'special intensive revision', or SIR, of the voter list in Bihar months before the state election.

The opposition, including the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who form the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state, has argued the revision is subterfuge to disenfranchise lakhs of men and women from communities that traditionally vote for them. The Congress has also accused the ruling BJP and Election Commission of 'collusion to commit voter fraud'.

The Election Commission, however, has insisted its SIR is within legal and constitutional mandates, and that the voter re-verification process was carried out in a transparent manner.

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