Bihar polls: SC asks ECI to consider Aadhaar, voter ID card in SIR of electoral rolls

New Delhi [India], July 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday again asked the Election Commission of India to consider including Aadhaar card and electoral photo identity card as admissible documents to prove the identity of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar.
A division bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also refused to stop the Election Commission from publishing the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1 as per the schedule notified for the SIR.
The bench did not hold a detailed hearing, as Justice Kant had to attend a meeting with the CJI in the afternoon and asked the petitioners and the ECI to decide on a tentative time they would take to argue in the case.
The bench said it will inform tomorrow about the next date of the hearing.
During the hearing today, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for one of the petitioners, requested that the top court stop the notification of the draft list. He said it will inconvenience approximately 4.5 crore voters, and once the draft list is published, those excluded will have to take steps to file objections and seek inclusion.
The bench then said that it's a draft list, and the court can ultimately strike down the entire process if any illegality is found.
Asking the poll panel to include Aadhaar card and voter ID card for SIR, the bench said, "There is presumption of correctness with official documents, you proceed with these two documents. You will include these two documents (Aadhaar and electoral photo identity card)... Wherever you find forgery, that is on case-to-case basis. Any document on the earth can be forged..."
On the last date of hearing, the bench had allowed the Election Commission to continue with its exercise of conducting a SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
It had not stayed the SIR process but asked the ECI to consider allowing Aadhaar, ration cards, and Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) as admissible documents during SIR in Bihar.
The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's move to conduct the SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
ECI had said that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship or domicile, and once all the application forms have come, then the stage of objections and claims will begin. ECI had said that if someone objects that this person is not who he claims to be, then Aadhaar can be used.
The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
The petitions sought a direction to quash the ECI's June 24 directive, which requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls.
ADR, in its petition, has submitted that the ECI order imposes fresh documentation requirements and shifts the burden of proof from the state to the citizen.
The petition also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar. (ANI)