The EC submitted an in depth affidavit to the courtroom, opposing a petition filed by 11 opposition events, NGOs, and residents of Bihar. The petition calls for the scrapping of the SIR and holding the upcoming November state election on the premise of the sooner rolls revised in December.
Citizenship not affected by exclusion from voter checklist
The Election Fee clarified that an individual's citizenship doesn't finish if their identify is lacking from the electoral rolls.
“Below the SIR train, citizenship of a person won't terminate on account of the truth that he/she is held to be ineligible for registration within the electoral rolls,” the affidavit mentioned.
It additionally added that the SIR course of doesn't violate any legislation or elementary rights of voters, and urged the Supreme Court docket to dismiss the petition.
Voter ID and Aadhaar not sufficient for verification
The EC defended its option to not depend on the Electors Photograph Id Card (EPIC), Aadhaar, or ration playing cards as proof of eligibility.“The conceptual and procedural integrity of a de-novo revision would stand undermined if EPICs, that are merely reflective of prior entries, are used to validate entries in a roll that's required to be constructed anew,” the EC mentioned. “The EPIC, being a by-product of an earlier electoral roll, can't substitute the verification course of mandated for contemporary preparation.”On Aadhaar, the affidavit acknowledged, “Aadhaar is merely a proof of identification of an individual. An individual who seeks to say a profit can utilise an Aadhaar card to indicate he/she is who he/she claims to be… There are restrictions on utilization of Aadhaar to verify eligibility below Article 326.”
Pretend ration playing cards a priority
The Fee additionally raised issues concerning the authenticity of ration playing cards. It famous that because of the widespread presence of pretend ration playing cards, the doc was not included within the checklist of 11 paperwork accepted for verifying voter eligibility.
“There are a lot of pretend ration playing cards floating round within the nation,” the EC instructed the courtroom.
The EC additional acknowledged that the SIR train doesn't invoke Part 9 of the Citizenship Act and doesn't have an effect on the authorized standing of any particular person as a citizen.
By distancing the SIR course of from citizenship willpower, the EC aimed to guarantee the courtroom that exclusion from the revised voter checklist doesn't imply lack of authorized rights or nationality.
Aadhaar cannot be the one ID for advantages: Meghalaya HC
In the meantime, in one other case, the Meghalaya Excessive Court docket has mentioned that Aadhaar alone shouldn't be handled as the one legitimate proof of identification to entry authorities schemes. It issued an interim order asking state authorities to just accept different types of identification from individuals who both shouldn't have or don't want to share their Aadhaar quantity.
Different paperwork like PAN and voter ID should be accepted
The courtroom acknowledged that people should be allowed to make use of various legitimate paperwork resembling PAN playing cards, voter ID playing cards, or passports rather than Aadhaar to entry schemes like post-matric scholarships or monetary help for SC/ST college students.
The bench identified that the Aadhaar Act of 2016 doesn't insist on Aadhaar being the one type of identification proof. Referring to Part 7 of the Act, the judges mentioned that if an individual doesn't have an Aadhaar quantity, the authorities should present different methods to verify identification and ship the profit.
The courtroom additionally noticed that the Aadhaar Act applies to “residents” and never simply “residents.” A resident, below the Act, is outlined as somebody who has lived in India for at the very least 182 days within the earlier 12 months.
The case, introduced via a PIL by activist Greneth M Sangma, challenged a state rule that made Aadhaar obligatory for availing advantages. The Excessive Court docket has scheduled the subsequent listening to on August 12, when it's going to evaluation the Aadhaar Act additional in mild of current legal guidelines and former Supreme Court docket rulings.
