The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed all officials involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, including District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) — to accept Aadhaar as a valid proof of identity. The directive comes ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly election.

With this directive, Aadhaar has been added as the 12th document to the list of already accepted 11 identity proof papers. The Commission has warned that any failure to comply with this order will be taken seriously.

The directive follows a Supreme Court ruling that clarified Aadhaar can be used only as proof of identity, not as proof of citizenship. The court also instructed that Aadhaar must be included as the 12th valid document during the revision of the electoral roll in Bihar.

It further stated that if election officials have doubts about the authenticity of an Aadhaar card, they may ask the applicant to provide additional documents.

The ECI emphasised that providing Aadhaar will not automatically ensure inclusion of a name in the electoral roll. Officials are now required to verify the authenticity of Aadhaar just like any other document during the voter registration process.

In the directive ECI secretary Pawan Diwan wrote: "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, the Aadhaar Card is one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person. Accordingly, we direct the Election Commission of India and its authorities to accept Aadhar Card as a proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar," he added.