Aadhaar Used Only As Proof Of Identity, Not Proof Of Citizenship For Electoral Roll Inclusion : Election Commission Tells Supreme Court

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reiterated before the Supreme Court that Aadhaar card is being used only to verify the identity of applicants seeking inclusion in electoral rolls, and not as proof of citizenship.

The ECI made this statement in its reply filed to an interlocutory application moved by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who is seeking a direction against the use of Aadhaar as proof of date of birth in Form 6 used for the registration of new voters. The ECI responded that Aadhaar is only being used as a proof of identity in terms of Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950

In its affidavit, sworn by Santosh Kumar Dubey, Secretary of the ECI, the Commission said that by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, Section 23 of the RP Act was amended to enable the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem, with the objective of curbing multiple enrolments of the same individual in different places. Based on this amendment, Form 6 was also amended with effect from June 17, 2022.

The Commission also referred to the Office Memorandum (O.M.) dated 22.08.2023 of the UIDAI which has clarified that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship, residence, or date of birth. It further referred to Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, which states that Aadhaar number is not a proof of citizenship or residence.

The affidavit further referred to the judgment of the Bombay High Court, in State of Maharashtra v. UIDAI(Criminal Writ Petition No. 3002 of 2022), which held that Aadhaar cannot be treated as proof of date of birth. The Supreme Court, in Saroj v. IFFCO Tokio (2024), also preferred a School Leaving Certificate over Aadhaar for determining age. The Commission added that the Supreme Court itself, in an order dated 8 September 2025 in the Bihar SIR matter,  while allowing the use of Aadhaar as one of the documents for enumeration, clarified that Aadhaar may be used only for identity verification while deciding inclusion or exclusion from electoral rolls.

Following the Court's direction, the ECI issued instructions on 9 September 2025 to all Chief Electoral Officers "for usage of Aadhar Card as proof of identity and not as proof of citizenship in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhar Act, 2016 and Section 23(4) of the RP Act, 1950 for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar."

Responding to the petitioner's plea seeking directions to restrict the use of Aadhaar strictly to identity verification and to bar its use as proof of date of birth in Form-6 applications, the ECI stated that the legal framework already limits Aadhaar to identity purposes and that its instructions align fully with the statutory scheme under the 1950 Act and the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

It may be noted during the hearing last week, the Supreme Court told Ashwini Upadhyaya that so long as Section 23(4) of the RP Act allows the use of Aadhaar as an identity proof, its use in Form 6 cannot be barred, and that a notification issed by the UIDAI cannot override the statutory provision.

Case Title: ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 634/2025