ECI issues directive in Bihar to accept Aadhar as valid ID during SIR of electoral rolls

In a fresh directive, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday stated the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar to accept Aadhaar as a valid identity proof during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. 

The directive is followed after a Supreme Court order mandated that Aadhaar be accepted as the 12th valid document for inclusion in the Bihar electoral rolls, after various complaints of election officials refusing to recognise it despite earlier instructions. 

The directive said, "The Aadhaar card shall be treated as the 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents listed in Annexure C and Annexure D of the SIR order dated 24.06.2025." 

In compliance with the Supreme Court order that rejected the ECI's observations about formally adding Aadhaar to its list of valid identity proofs, the commission said that the document has to be "accepted and utilised as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship" in line with Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. 

ECI highlighted that the document does not establish citizenship and remains a valid indicator of identity and residence. It said, "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." 

The ECI further added that all instructions be brought to the attention of all District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), and other concerned authorities for a "stricter implementation".

It said, "Any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness." 

There has been a controversy around the SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar, with the alleged exclusion of nearly 6.5 million names from the draft rolls published in August. On September 1, the Supreme Court noted that all claims and objections should be accepted beyond the statutory deadline.