Newsroom, February 25, 2026: India's Supreme Court refused to drop Aadhaar as an acceptable identity document in the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process for updating voter lists.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard the plea on February 24, 2026.
The court upheld its earlier September 2025 direction that added Aadhaar as one of the indicative proofs, noting that Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, explicitly allows citizens to provide their Aadhaar number to establish identity.
The petitioner raised concerns over fake Aadhaar cards produced on a large scale, especially in border regions, arguing it could enable ineligible inclusions.
The bench responded that forgery risks exist with many documents, including passports, and directed such policy changes to the Union Government through amendments rather than court intervention. It stressed that courts must follow existing law unless amended.
