THE SUPREME COURT ON MONDAY told the Election Commission of India (‘ECI’) to adopt a voter verification approach based on “mass inclusion, not mass exclusion,” as it questioned the Commission’s refusal to accept Aadhaar and Electoral Photo Identity Card (‘EPIC’) as valid proof of identity under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (‘SIR’) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi did not support the ECI’s argument that Aadhaar and EPIC cards can be forged, pointing out that “10 out of 11 documents already accepted by the Commission can be equally fake.” The Court said forgery is always a possibility, but that cannot be a reason to summarily discard widely held documents like Aadhaar or voter ID cards.
“Tomorrow, 10 out of 11 documents may be found to be fake. It has to be seen on a case-to-case basis,” Justice Kant observed.
The bench added, “For that matter, any document on Earth can be forged.”
The oral observations came during a hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the June 24 ECI order initiating SIR in Bihar ahead of the State Assembly elections due in October–November 2025.
The Court said Aadhaar and EPIC should be accepted as identity proofs for SIR, urging the ECI to avoid exclusions of identity proof. Earlier on July 10, the vacation bench had asked the poll panel to consider, in the interest of justice, the Aadhar Card, Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC), which is issued by Election Commission of India itself, and the Ration Card, as identity proof.
