Professor Satya Narayan Misra* in Bhubaneswar, September 17, 2025: The Apex Court’s decisive intervention on 8thAugust, ordering the Election Commission of India to include the Aadhar card as the 12th valid document for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, is a vital course correction. It has effectively reproved the ECI from being excessively stringent in its operation of the SIR and reaffirmed the principle that procedural rigidity must not disenfranchise lakhs of eligible voters.

Justice Surya Kant and Justice Bagchi, who heard the arguments, dismantled the argument from the government side that Aadhar is not a proof of citizenship by pointing out how nine of the 11 documents included by ECI for SIR do not conclusively proof citizenship. Justice Bagchi pointed out that Aadhar is a document used as proof of residence as per Representation of People’s Act (RoP|A) 1951 and should be used subject to its verification for authenticity. This hopefully puts to rest the stubborn refusal of ECI to pass on this instruction on including Aadhar card to the BLOs, who undertake door to door survey, despite Supreme Court’s advice since 28th July.

Constitutional Mandate & SIR

Holding of free and fair election is a sine qua non of parliamentary democracy. To ensure such fair & impartial process Article 324 vests ‘superintendence, direction and control of election in the ECI. Article 326 mandates tat an Indian citizen above the age of 18, who is otherwise not disqualified is eligible to vote. S16 of RoPA 1950 outlines the disqualifications for registration in an electoral roll, which includes non-citizen, a person of unsound mind, or involved in corrupt practice. S 21 of RoPA brings how modality for preparation and revision of electoral rolls. S21(3) empowers the ECI to ‘direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such a manner as it may think fit’. The notification of the ECI to conduct SIR in Bihar asking for 11 documents including birth certificate and passport but excluding Aadhar is in consonance with its powers under S21(3) of RoPA.

Role of ADR in Electoral Reforms

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR} came up in to existence in 1999 as an apolitical, nonpartisan non-profit organisation, with the avowed objective of improving governance through continuous work in the area of electoral reforms. They focus on empowering of the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates.

Some of the highpoints of its achievements are making it mandatory for candidates to provide full information regarding their criminal, financial and education background, IT returns of political parties being available in the public domain, setting aside clause 8(4) of RoPA which bars MPS and MLAs from holding office on being convicted in a court of law (lily Thomas Case), inclusion of NOTA on EVS and holding the anonymous, unregulated and unlimited funding through the Electoral Bond Scheme as unconstitutional in a landmark case in2024.

With its excellent research work, ADR reports have become the single data point for background details of politicians and of financial information of political parties. The first salvo against SIR was fired by ADR and Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj Party on 7th July under Article 32 as’ violative of universal right of adult suffrage ‘

The Arguments Before The Supreme Court

The team of lawyers for ADR have been arguing before the Supreme Court how the spirit of RoPA is to include rather than exclude, while Mr Dwivedi on behalf of the government argues that the process should not become ‘over inclusive’. Justice Bagchi brought sanity to this argument by clarifying that inclusion of Aadhar as the 12th document is not ‘over inclusive’.

They further argue that deciding 1st January 2003 is patently arbitrary, as the electoral rolls published in January were part of summary revision, protected under the guidelines of te Supreme Court in Lal Babu Hussain Vs Electoral Registration office in 1995.

Further S21(3) allows revision only in a specific constituency or a part of it , rather than a blanket state wide exercise , which was being undertaken by ECI in Bihar. Most importantly the reasonability of reasons under S21(3) of RoPA do not meet the proportionality test enunciated by the Supreme Court in Modern Dental College Vs State of MP in 2011.

This test includes legitimacy of aim, means used is less intrusive and measure rationally connected to the aim. By excluding Aadhar which is held nearly by 90% of Bihar’s population in favour of documents such as passports held by a mere 2%, given Bihar’s high rates of poverty and migration , the argument centred around the painful reality that SIR undermines right to vote , particularly for the most vulnerable.

The SC Intervention

The two judge bench did not get in to the prayer for holding up SIR; nor did it go in to the other arguments regarding cut-off date, sweeping nature of the SIR or whether it meets the proportionality test. However, when it was brought out its notice that by 25th July 65.5 lakh voters have been disenfranchised, it directed the ECI to publish the detailed reasons of the deletion.

In the latest direction on 8th September, it has ordered the ECI to include Aadhar card as one of the valid documents for being considered as part of electoral roll’ A statistical analysis of exclusion reveals several anomalies; disproportionate numbers of women removed, statistically improbable death rates in certain areas and questionable permanent shift of residents, especially migrant workers and married women. These patterns suggest a flawed process that prioritised haste over accuracy.

The Implication

The entire SIR project is problematic as establishing citizenship cannot be a special and intensive project prior to a pivotal election. The fact is that India has always had a problem identifying its citizen. But as it stands, a majority of Bihar’s voters asked to submit documentation were born in periods when birth registration was below 10%. Thus, the process of validation becomes extremely onerous.

Under the circumstances, as the Court noted, it becomes a ‘trust issue’. The inclusion of Aadhar thus paves the way for a smoother, more accessible verification process. This ruling has implications beyond Bihar, for all other revisions envisaged across the country. For the ECI, the goal of electoral roll revision should be to ensure accuracy and inclusivity, not rush the process through in a way that could affect citizens’ rights. It must ensure that the foundation of India’s democracy –the electoral roll –is accurate, in sync with reality and truly representative of its entire people.

*The author teaches constitutional Law in a Law School and is a member of ADR & played a part in the Electoral Bond Scheme Case