Supreme Court affirms Aadhaar not proof of citizenship

The Supreme Court on August 12 upheld the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) position that Aadhaar cannot be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship, warning that voter eligibility must be verified through independent checks.

A bench led by Justice Surya Kant made the remarks while hearing petitions challenging the Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, where petitioners have alleged large-scale exclusions.

“The EC is correct in saying Aadhaar cannot be accepted as conclusive proof of citizenship. It has to be verified,” Justice Kant told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners.

The court said the first question was whether the ECI had the authority to conduct such verification. “If they don’t have the power, everything ends. But if they have the power, there can’t be a problem,” the bench noted.

Sibal warned that the process risked disenfranchising lakhs of voters, including those on the rolls since 2003, by requiring them to resubmit forms. He claimed that despite no change in residence, failure to comply could lead to deletions.

According to Sibal, 7.24 crore people had filed the necessary forms, yet about 65 lakh names were struck off without any proper inquiry into deaths or migration. “They admit in their affidavit they did not conduct any survey,” he argued.

The bench pressed for evidence, questioning whether the exclusion figures were based on facts or assumptions. “We want to understand whether your apprehension is imaginary or a real concern,” Justice Kant said, adding that those who submitted forms were already in draft rolls.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, also for the petitioners, alleged the ECI had withheld lists of voters removed for death or change of residence, sharing them only with booth-level agents and not the public.

The court stressed that if voters provided Aadhaar and ration card details, the EC must verify them, and sought clarity on whether all those missing documents had been duly notified.