SC Rules Aadhaar Not Final Proof of Residence in Bihar’s SIR Process

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that the Aadhaar card cannot be considered the final and conclusive proof of residence, especially during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha. He argued that people hold Aadhaar, ration cards, and voter identity cards (EPIC), but officials are not accepting any of these as conclusive proof.

‘Aadhaar is Not Decisive Evidence’

Justice Suryakant said that these documents may indicate that a person resides in a particular area, but they cannot be called decisive evidence. During the hearing, Kapil Sibal alleged that there are many discrepancies in the voter list for example, some people marked as deceased are alive, and some marked as alive have been found dead.

The bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymala Bagchi said that the controversy has increased due to a lack of trust between the Election Commission and the opposition. Justice Kant also remarked that it would be too broad a statement to say that no one in Bihar has valid documents.

EC Lawyer’s Argument

Rakesh Dwivedi, senior advocate and lawyer for the Election Commission, said that some errors are natural in such large-scale operations, but these can be corrected before the final list is published on September 30.

It is noteworthy that opposition leaders and social organizations had challenged the Election Commission’s decision on June 24. On July 29, the Supreme Court had warned that it would intervene immediately if a large number of voters were excluded.

What is the Opposition Concern?

The draft voter list was published on August 1, while the final list will be released on September 30. The opposition claims that millions of valid voters could be deprived of their voting rights through this process. Petitions have been filed jointly by RJD, TMC, Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), CPI, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), JMM, CPI (ML), along with PUCL, ADR, and Yogendra Yadav.