Overview
- The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that Aadhaar is used only to verify identity, not citizenship, for inclusion or exclusion from electoral rolls.
- The affidavit responds to advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay’s plea seeking to bar Aadhaar as proof of date of birth in Form 6, which remains pending.
- The Commission cited UIDAI’s August 22, 2023 memorandum and Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act stating Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship, residence, or date of birth.
- Courts have questioned Aadhaar as age proof, including a Bombay High Court ruling and the Supreme Court’s preference for school records over Aadhaar in determining age.
- Following the Court’s September directive, the ECI on September 9 issued instructions to Chief Electoral Officers to treat Aadhaar as identity proof only, as Phase II of the Special Intensive Revision proceeds across roughly 51 crore electors in multiple states and UTs.