‘Aadhaar is just…’: What Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said on its use in voter rolls

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday clarified that the Aadhaar card cannot be treated as proof of citizenship under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 or the Aadhaar Act, 2016. His statement comes amid discussions on the use of Aadhaar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country, following the Supreme Court’s relief in the Bihar SIR case.

Addressing a press conference in Patna on poll preparedness ahead of the upcoming Bihar elections, Kumar said, “According to the Supreme Court’s orders and under the Aadhaar Act, the document cannot be considered proof of date of birth, proof of residence, or proof of citizenship. The ECI had requested Aadhaar card within the enumeration form itself. Providing your Aadhaar number is not mandatory under the Aadhaar Act, nor under Section 26 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. It is optional. It depends on the Aadhaar holder.”

Reiterating the Election Commission’s position, the CEC added that Aadhaar can be accepted as an identity document but not as proof of citizenship. “Even under the Aadhaar Act, the Aadhaar card is neither proof of residence nor proof of citizenship. If anyone got Aadhaar card after 2023 or downloaded it after 2023, the Aadhaar card itself, under several orders of the Supreme Court, states that the Aadhaar card is not proof of date of birth…The Supreme Court did say, and we are following that order, that Aadhaar cards should be accepted. We were also accepting Aadhaar cards in the enumeration form and still are… However, the Supreme Court also stated in its order that the Aadhaar card will not be proof of citizenship….the Supreme Court has also stated that it is not proof of citizenship. Other documents may be required for eligibility,” Kumar added.
On September 8, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept Aadhaar as the 12th prescribed document for establishing voter identity during Bihar’s SIR. Earlier, voters could submit any of 11 identity documents along with their enumeration forms.

The bench, however, clarified that while Aadhaar can verify a person’s identity, it does not establish citizenship. The ruling cited provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The order came in response to petitions filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other parties, who argued that the ECI’s refusal to accept Aadhaar as a stand-alone document for voter inclusion was restrictive and contrary to the Court’s earlier directions.