The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a contempt plea filed against the Election Commission of India (ECI) for not updating its forms that still asks for Aadhar number of voters for updating of entries in the electoral roll.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma refused to initiate contempt proceedings on the basis of ECI's earlier submission that it was looking into the issue.
In September 2023, the ECI had informed the top court filling Aadhar number was not mandatory for the process of deletion and updation of entries in the electoral roll. The commission had also told the court that it will issue required clarifications on the issue.
The ECI had given an undertaking to the apex court that it will issue appropriate changes in Forms 6 and 6B (for Registration in E-Roll) which seeks Aadhaar number for authenticating new voters.
The ECI had also said that Aadhar number was not mandatory under Rule 26-B of the Registration of Electors (Amendment) Rules 2022. The submission was made in a petition challenging the ECI's Form 6 (Application Form for new voters) and Form 6B (Letter of Information of Aadhaar number for the purpose of electoral roll authentication).
In November 2022, the top court had issued notice to ECI in a separate petition challenging the usage of Aadhaar/UIDAI database to prepare electoral rolls. The petition had contended that ECI being an independent body should not be using data that is not under its control.
In December 2022, the then Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had clarified in the Parliament that names of the voters whose voter IDs are not linked with Aadhaar will not be struck off from the voter list and linking Aadhaar with Voter ID is voluntary and consent of the elector is required for the same.