The Election Commission’s instructions to accept Aadhaar has come after the court suggesting its inclusion on July 10, July 28, August 14 and August 22, before the September 8 order directing it to do so.
A full 77 days since it first announced the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, about 65 lakh deletions from the voter rolls later, and following multiple suggestions from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India despite its stiff resistance has issued instructions to the Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar to accept Aadhaar cards as the 12th document that can be produced as proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion in the revised voter list.
The instructions issued to the CEO, Bihar on September 9, came after the Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi directed the Election Commission in an order to do so on September 8.
The court was hearing the petition filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and activist Yogendra Yadav, challenging the SIR exercise in poll-bound Bihar.
However, this was not the first time that the Supreme Court had made suggestions to the poll body to include Aadhaar which has 94% coverage in Bihar as one of the proof documents. Since the hearing began on July 10, the court asked the poll body to consider including Aadhaar twice on July 10, July 28.
On August 14, it once again asked the EC to include Aadhaar while directing it to publish on its website the names of those excluded from the draft rolls. On August 22 it told the Election Commission to allow excluded voters to submit their claims online or physically with Aadhaar card or any one of the 11 prescribed documents, before delivering its order on September 8 directing the poll body to do so.
From July 10, the Election Commission on the other hand repeatedly resisted including Aadhaar in court as well as in its affidavits given to the court. The Wire has earlier reported that the poll body’s resistance to accepting Aadhaar brought into focus its confusion and consequent flip-flop on the identification document.
Here we trace how the Election Commission has resisted the inclusion of Aadhaar until it was forced to include it by way of the Supreme Court order:
July 10: SC asks EC to consider including Aadhaar in list of documents
On July 10, when it first listed for hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR, the Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to consider accepting the Aadhaar card, voter ID card and ration cards.
The bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi questioned senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi who was representing the EC on the exclusion of Aadhaar card and said, crucially, that the EC had nothing to do with citizenship of a person and it was the Ministry of Home Affairs’ domain.
The court said that since the list of 11 documents listed by the poll body in its June 24 order, was stated as not exhaustive, Aadhaar should be considered.
“…[I]n our prima facie view, since the list is not exhaustive, in our opinion, it will be in the interest of justice, the ECI will also consider the Aadhaar card, Electoral Photo Identity Card issued by the Election Commission and the ration card.”
July 21: EC tells SC it cannot consider Aadhaar
On July 21, the Election Commission in its affidavit in the Supreme Court said it cannot consider the Aadhaar, the voter ID or ration cards – as suggested by the apex court.
With reference to the Aadhaar card, the Election Commission affidavit said that the cards are not proof of citizenship and therefore cannot be considered among the 11 documents which had then been stated as “illustrative and not exhaustive.”
The affidavit said that Aadhaar is “merely a proof of identity of the person.”
“In other words, a person who seeks to claim a benefit can utilise an Aadhaar card to show he/she is who he/she claims to be,” it said.
It also said that Aadhaar is not evidence of citizenship or domicile but can be used to supplement other documents.
“Aadhaar has not been included in the list of 11 documents provided in the enumeration form, as it does not help in screening the eligibility under Article 326. However, this is not to say that Aadhaar cannot be used to supplement other documents to prove eligibility,” it said.
In its counter affidavit later that week, ADR said that the fact that the Aadhaar card is one of the documents accepted for issuing a permanent residence certificate, OBC/SC/ST certificate and passport – three of the 11 documents listed by the poll body – makes the EC’s rejection of Aadhaar (which is the most widely held document) under the instant SIR order “patently absurd”.
July 28: SC says ‘mass inclusion, not en masse exclusion’ must be goal of SIR
On July 28, the Supreme Court once again asked the Election Commission to include Aadhaar and voter identity cards, but did not pass an order in the case to stop the poll body from publishing its draft list which was then due to be out on August 1.
“You will include these two documents. Wherever you find forgery, that’s on case-to-case basis. Any document on the earth can be forged,” LiveLaw quoted Justice Kant as having said during the hearing referring to the EPIC and Aadhaar cards.
The court declared that “mass inclusion, not en masse exclusion” must be the goal of the exercise in the poll-bound state.
July 29 to August 14: EC’s opposition to publish list of names excluded
The Supreme Court on July 29 in its oral observations offered direct assurance that it would intervene if the SIR leads to “mass exclusion” of voters in Bihar. This after the court was told that approximately 65 lakh voters who have not submitted enumeration forms could be dropped from the rolls.
On August 1, the draft rolls were published which left out 65 lakh voters. On August 6, ADR appealed to the Supreme Court that the Election Commission should release the names of the 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft list. It said that the draft electoral rolls in their current shape “serve no purpose” and “cannot be used to cross check any details from the ground in absence of the reason for such deletion.”
Three days later, the Election Commission in response gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court on August 9 in which it said that it is not required under the statutory framework of existing rules to publish names of electors who are not included in the draft electoral rolls, or the reasons for their non-inclusion.
On August 14, the Supreme Court once again asked the Election Commission to include Aadhaar in the list of documents accepted for the SIR as it directed the poll body to publish on its website the list of names excluded from the draft electoral rolls, along with the reasons for deletion.
On August 22, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to allow excluded voters to submit their claims online or physically with Aadhaar card or any one of the 11 prescribed documents
On September 1, as reports of arbitrary removals, curious deletions and the withholding of information continued, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that claims and objections can be filed on the draft electoral rolls even after September 1. The June 24 order had said that claims and objections could only be filed till September 1.
On September 8, the Election Commission finally undertook before the Supreme Court that the Aadhaar cards will be taken into consideration for establishing identity, after the apex court made clear that the document is not a proof of citizenship but of identity and directed the poll body to issue instructions to its officials on the ground regarding the acceptance of Aadhaar cards.
“There is no quarrel that as per the statutory status assigned to Aadhaar Card under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, it is not a proof of citizenship and therefore shall not be accepted as proof of citizenship,” the order said.
“However, keeping in view Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar Card is one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person. Accordingly, we direct the Election Commission of India and its authorities to accept Aadhar Card as a proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar.”
September 9: EC finally issues instructions to Bihar CEO to include Aadhaar as 12th document
A grand total of 77 days later, the Election Commission issued instructions to the Bihar CEO on September 9 that Aadhaar will be included as the 12th document along with the 11 documents earlier listed in its June 24 order. It added following the Supreme Court’s directions that “Aadhaar Card is to be accepted and utilised as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship.”
“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,” the instructions said.
It also said that “any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness.”