By News18,Nivedita Singh,Pathikrit Sen Gupta

Copyright news18

Acting on a Supreme Court directive, the Election Commission (ECI) on Tuesday allowed Aadhaar to be the 12th identity proof for Bihar’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The ECI wrote to the Bihar chief electoral officer (CEO) to bring the directive to the knowledge of all the concerned ground officials and authorities for its strict implementation.
“Any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness,” the letter added.
In the two-page letter, dated September 9, the poll body said that based on the orders from the apex court, it is issuing instructions for “immediate compliance”.
The letter said that the Aadhaar card should be treated as the 12th document, in addition to the 11 listed in the June 24 SIR order.
“The Aadhaar Card is to be accepted and utilized as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship, in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhaar (Delivery of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016,” it said.
The poll body also explained that under Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar card is already one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person.
On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the poll body that the Aadhaar card “must” be included as proof of identity for voters in Bihar SIR, and the direction should be implemented by September 9.
“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. However, keeping in view Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, Aadhaar Card is one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person,” the court ordered.
The September 8 directive from the apex court was the third in a row in the last two months on the SIR. On July 10, the court asked the ECI to consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration card for updating the rolls, allowing the poll body to take the final call. Last month, on August 22, the court had said Aadhaar, along with the 11 documents, can be used to file claims against the exclusion of names from the draft voters’ list.
The 11 documents that were initially listed in the June 24 order included:

Identity card/Pension Payment Order issued to regular employee/pensioner of Central/State Govt./PSU
Identity card/Certificate/Document issued in India by Govt./local authorities/Banks/Post Office/LIC/PSUs before 01.07.1987
Birth Certificate issued by competent authority

Matriculation/Educational certificate from recognised boards/universities
Permanent Residence certificate issued by competent State authority
Forest Right Certificate
OBC/SC/ST or any caste certificate issued by competent authority
National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists)
Family Register prepared by State/Local authorities
Land/house allotment certificate by government

The SIR drive has officially ended, with the deadline for claims and objections ending on September 1. However, as per the rules, the poll body has kept the window open for filing new applications or claims and objections on the draft till the last date of nominations. New voter applications will be accepted until the nomination deadline, but such voters may not feature in the September 30 list.