New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued a directive to the chief electoral officer of Bihar to accept Aadhaar cards as valid proof of identity during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The directive comes in the wake of a Supreme Court order mandating that Aadhaar be accepted as the 12th valid document for inclusion in Bihar’s electoral rolls, following complaints that election officials were refusing to recognise it despite earlier instructions.
“The Aadhaar Card shall be treated as the 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents listed in Annexure C and Annexure D of the SIR order dated 24.06.2025,” the directive said.
Complying with the Supreme Court’s order, which rejected the ECI’s reservations about formally adding Aadhaar to its list of approved identity proofs, the commission said that Aadhaar is to be “accepted and utilised as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship,” in line with Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
The commission, stressing that the document cannot establish citizenship and that it remains a valid indicator of identity and residence, said, “Under Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar Card is already one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person.”
{{/usCountry}}The commission, stressing that the document cannot establish citizenship and that it remains a valid indicator of identity and residence, said, “Under Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar Card is already one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person.”
{{/usCountry}}The ECI further said that these instructions be brought to the attention of all District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and other concerned authorities “for its strict implementation.”
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“Any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness,” the commission said.
The controversy arises from the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, where nearly 6.5 million names were excluded from the draft rolls published last month. Opposition parties, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), allege that genuine voters are being disenfranchised by technical barriers and inconsistent instructions, while the ECI maintains the revision is necessary after nearly two decades without such an exercise.
Eight parties, including Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena (UBT), have warned that the exercise could be replicated nationwide.
On September 1, the Supreme Court had noted the ECI’s assurance that claims and objections would be accepted even beyond the statutory deadline of September 1, and directed the deployment of para-legal volunteers to help voters file claims online. However, persistent confusion over Aadhaar’s status forced the court to issue an explicit clarification on Monday.
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“We must be very clear… Genuine citizens are entitled to be included in the rolls, while those claiming citizenship on the basis of forged or sham documents must be kept out. If you make Aadhaar the 12th document, you will still be able to verify it under the law,” said the bench.
SIR has become a major political flashpoint ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled for later this year. While the government has accused the Opposition of politicising electoral reforms, the Opposition contends that the SIR’s timing, methodology, and documentation requirements threaten the fundamental right to vote of genuine electors, particularly among the poor, migrants, and minorities.