"Filed application for SIR implementation...": Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay after SC orders inclusion of Aadhaar as identity proof

The advocate informed that the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Election Commission and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 15. He expressed hope that the poll panel would act before the next hearing.

Speaking to mediapersons, Upadhyay said, "I had filed an application requesting the implementation of the SIR across the entire country, with an immediate start in five states--Assam, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry--where elections are scheduled for 2026. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission and will hear the case again on September 15. I hope that the Election Commission will complete all formalities and declare the timeline for SIR in these five states before the next hearing."

"I hope that the Election Commission will complete all formalities and declare the timeline for SIR in these five states before the next hearing," Upadhyay told reporter.

Upadhyay said that the Supreme Court clarified that the Aadhaar card is not proof of citizenship but "only proof of identity". He further said that the court also acknowledged that the Election Commission is authorised to verify the citizenship status of individuals, ensuring that only Indian citizens are part of the electoral rolls.

"This will lead to the swift initiation of citizenship verification nationwide, resulting in the cancellation of voting rights for illegal residents, including Rohingya, Pakistanis, Afghans, and Bangladeshis, and their eventual removal from the country," Upadhyay further added.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered that the Aadhaar card must be treated as the 12th document for identity for inclusion of voters in the revised voters list of Bihar in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, said it is clarified that authorities shall be entitled to verify the authenticity and genuineness of the Aadhaar card itself.

Aadhaar card shall not be accepted as proof of citizenship, clarified the bench. It also asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to issue instructions about the acceptance of the Aadhaar card as the 12th document to its officials.

The top court observed that, as per the Aadhaar Act, the Aadhaar card is not proof of citizenship; however, in the Representation of the People's Act, the Aadhaar card is one document for the purpose of establishing the identity of any person.

It recorded the undertaking of the poll panel that the Aadhaar card will be accepted as proof of identity.

The order of the apex court came while hearing pleas of RJD and others claiming that the ECI officials were not accepting the Aadhaar card as a stand-alone document for inclusion in the electoral roll. (ANI)