Aadhaar valid for voter list, not citizenship: Supreme Court to EC

Guwahati: In an important ruling on the controversy over voter list revision in Bihar, the Supreme Court on Monay said "has clarified that "Aadhaar cards shall be accepted as one of the documents for establishing identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised electoral rolls."

However, authorities would be entitled to verify the authenticity of the Aadhaar Card.

The Election Commission shall issue instructions in this regard by tomorrow.

The court ordered that Aadhaar should be treated as the 12th document in the list of acceptable identity proofs under the voter registration framework.

This is in consonance with provisions under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which allow for various documents to be used in establishing the identity of voters.

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However, the court said there was a legal difference between identity and citizenship, "emphasising that while Aadhaar can help establish identity, it cannot be used as proof of Indian citizenship."

Exemplifying the Aadhaar Act the SC said, “We clarify Aadhaar card is not proof of citizenship and will not be accepted as proof of citizenship.”

Authorities involved in the voter registration process can also verify the genuineness of Aadhaar cards, just as they would with any other submitted identity document.