NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission to consider including Aadhaar, voter ID cards and ration cards as valid documents for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for October-November.
Describing the SIR as a “constitutional mandate”, the Bench allowed the EC to go ahead with the exercise in Bihar which has close to 8 crore voters.
A Bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi stated, “In our prima facie opinion, in the interest of justice, the Election Commission will also include these documents… Aadhaar, ration card and EPIC card.”
As senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi insisted on behalf of the EC that Aadhaar wasn’t a “proof of citizenship”, the Bench clarified that it was for the EC to decide if it wanted to take these documents or not and If it didn’t, then it had to give reasons for the same.
“We cannot stop a constitutional body from doing what it is supposed to do. Simultaneously, we will not let them do what they are not supposed to do,” Justice Dhulia said, terming the right to vote as an important right in a democracy.
Maintaining that 60 per cent of voters had already verified their credentials in Bihar, Dwivedi assured the Bench that none of the voters would be removed from the electoral rolls without giving them a hearing. The list of 11 documents to be considered for the SIR was not exhaustive, he added
As the top court rejected the petitioners’ argument that the EC did not have any powers to carry out the revision, they chose not to press for a stay on the process.
The top court said the EC had nothing to do with citizenship of a person and it was the Ministry of Home Affairs’ domain. However, referring to Article 326 of the Constitution, Dwivedi said every voter has to be an Indian citizen and “Aadhaar card is not proof of citizenship”.
“If you are to check citizenship under the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, then you should have acted early. It is a bit late,” the Bench noted. Asking the EC to respond to the petition within a week from today, the Bench said the petitioners should file their rejoinders, if any, before July 28, the next date of hearing.
The Bench questioned the timing of the exercise saying it had serious doubts if the exercise could be managed before the upcoming election. “We have a serious doubt whether this timeline is realistic. It is a question of practicality. If you ask for these documents immediately… Even I will not be able to produce it now… Look at the practicality, look at the timeline,” Justice Dhulia told Dwivedi.
Earlier, senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Kapil Sibal and AM Singhvi questioned the timing of the exercise. The entire SIR will cover around 7.9 crore citizens and even the voter ID and Aadhaar cards were not being considered, Sankaranarayanan submitted.
The petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), did not seek a stay on the SIR but challenged its timing and potential disenfranchisement of voters. They argued that the EC’s order was arbitrary and violated constitutional provisions, including Articles 14, 19, 21, 325 and 326, as well as the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
The EC defended its decision, stating that the SIR, the first since 2003, was necessary due to urbanisation, migration and the need to remove ineligible voters. It assured that those failing to submit documents by July 25 would have another opportunity during the claims & objections period. The EC also cautioned against misleading statements about the process.
Political leaders, including RJD’s Manoj Jha, TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Congress’ KC Venugopal, were among more than 10 petitioners opposing the move, fearing the exclusion of nearly three crore voters. The Bench acknowledged the concerns but refused to halt the process, stating that the matter required further hearing on July 28.