Your Aadhaar Card is NOT your citizenship proof? Why voters in Bihar are pleading against EC ahead of election

Bihar Assembly Election: Ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for October-November, voters in Bihar are restless after the Election Commission said that Aadhaar is not a document to prove Indian citizenship. Meanwhile, on Thursday (July 10), the Indian apex court asked the EC for the reason behind the declaration. A judge on the bench hearing the plea of voters around the proof of citizenship in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar said even he could not show all the documents mandated, especially in the short timeline set.

The question of the Supreme Court came after senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan pointed out that even though Aadhaar is an acceptable document as per the Representation of the People Act, the poll panel is not considering it valid for the Bihar SIR. In response, the EC's lawyer, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, told the court: “Aadhar Card cannot be used as proof of citizenship.”

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia remarked: "… citizenship is an issue to be determined not by the Election Commission of India, but by the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs)."

The EC lawyer said that Article 326 of the Indian Constitution gives power to the poll panel to check for citizenship for voting rights.

The SC bench then questioned the timing of the exercise, which began late June. The bench observed that if the EC decided to take away the voting right, then that person has to appeal against the decision and “go through this entire rigmarole and thereby be denied his right to vote in the ensuing election”.

The SC also questioned the poll panel's demand for 11 documents. The EC said that Aadhaar is a proof of identity, while citizenship needs to be proved with a set of documents.

The Apex court further asked the EC for the timing of revealing the citizenship document requirement - just 3 months before the election begins. “Nothing wrong in purging electoral rolls through an intensive exercise in order to see that non-citizens don't remain on the roll. But if you decide only a couple of months before a proposed election…”

Then Justice Bagchi said in the middle, “My question is, why to link this process to an incoming election at all?”

At this, the EC lawyer insisted that no one would be deleted “without notice or being heard." The court asked the Election Commission to consider Aadhaar, voter ID card, and ration card as valid documents during the verification drive.