Can foreigners with Aadhaar be allowed to vote? Supreme Court

28-Nov-2025

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The Supreme Court opened final arguments on November 26 in a batch of petitions contesting the Election Commission's push for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across several states, and made it clear that Aadhaar cannot be treated as unquestionable proof of citizenship.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also underlined that the poll panel retains "inherent power to determine the correctness of entries in Form 6," the application used to register as a voter.

The judges reiterated that Aadhaar's purpose is limited. "Aadhaar is a creation of statute for availing benefits. Just because a person was granted Aadhaar for ration, should he be made a voter also? Suppose someone belongs to a neighbouring country and works as a labourer, shall he be allowed to vote?" the CJI asked.