The Hindu editorial on 10/09/2025 praises the Supreme Court order to include Aadhaar as the 12th document for voter verification in the Bihar SIR as a vital course correction. It is a victory for the right to vote over procedural rigidity and the questionable reasoning of the EC in excluding only Aadhaar when the other 9 documents out of the 11 also do not conclusively prove citizenship. The judicial clarity was much needed in this regard. The data from the field and statistical analysis demonstrate that the exclusion of Aadhaar has adversely affected a vast number of genuine voters, particularly the poor and marginalized. The rushed SIR exercise, prioritising haste over accuracy, had already resulted in the mass exclusion of 65 lakh voters in the draft roll. Hence, the inclusion of Aadhaar makes the verification process smoother as it not only offers an opportunity for those voters who are unfairly excluded from the list, but also reduces the documentary burden for those who are already in the list but require document verification. The court order that sets a precedent for country-wide SIR reflects the persistent warning of political parties and civil society activists who anticipated the ground-level issues if Aadhaar is excluded. The editorial calls for the ECI to be more diligent and humane, ensuring accuracy and inclusivity in the Roll revision.
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