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The plea has sought directions to the Centre, States and the Election Commission of India to ensure that Aadhaar is used as a proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship, domicile, address and date of birth. File

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) sought responses from the Centre and States on a plea alleging misuse of Aadhaar cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as proof of citizenship, domicile and residence. The petition claimed that “infiltrators and illegal immigrants” are able to obtain Aadhaar cards and project themselves as “lawful residents”, thereby availing benefits to which they are not legally entitled.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana issued notice on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and directed that it be tagged with similar pending petitions.

The petition contended that the continued use of Aadhaar for purposes beyond identity verification is contrary to Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which expressly states that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship or domicile. It also relied on a UIDAI notification issued in August 2023 clarifying that Aadhaar serves only as proof of identity and cannot be treated as proof of citizenship, residence or date of birth.

The plea also questioned the use of Aadhaar as proof of date of birth and residence in Form-6, the application form for fresh voter registration. Mr. Upadhyay argued that allowing Aadhaar to be used for this purpose could undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

“...Aadhaar is not only being used as proof of age, citizenship & domicile for school admission, property purchase, and to obtain birth certificate, ration card, driving licence, but also being used in the application form for new voter registration (Form-6) as proof of date of birth & proof of residence. And thus, infiltrators & illegal immigrants are obtaining various documents using the Aadhaar,” the plea stated.

‘Illegal migrants’

Referring to what he described as the presence of a “huge number of illegal migrants” occupying “vast tracts of land, particularly along sensitive international borders”, Mr. Upadhyay contended that the ease with which such persons can obtain Aadhaar cards enables them to secure other identity documents and eventually seek inclusion in electoral rolls.

“Infiltration is a weapon of political parties to subvert the electoral process for their benefit. Bengal, Assam and other Northeastern States have been afflicted by cheap political tactics. The infiltrators are helped by either the party in power or the Opposition parties, and are also helped with identity documents such as Aadhaar/ration card. Once they have a plethora of documents, they enrol themselves in the voting list and become eligible as Indian voters. Thus, the sacrosanct nature of the election process is compromised,” the plea stated.

Accordingly, the petition sought a complete overhaul of the verification framework used in electoral processes and proposed the establishment of a high-powered monitoring committee comprising a retired Supreme Court judge along with cybersecurity and forensic experts to oversee reforms.

It also prayed for a direction “to declare that the use of Aadhaar as proof of date of birth and residence in the application form for new voter registration” is contrary to statutory provisions and therefore liable to be declared “void and inoperative”.

Published - June 16, 2026 12:19 pm IST