The exchange between the EC and the Law Ministry comes amidst complaints and a recent writ petition in the Supreme Court, where the petitioner  argued that Form 6 (for new voter enrolment), Form 6B (for collecting Aadhaar number of enrolled voters), and other related forms lacked options for electors to abstain from providing Aadhaar, offering only two choices: either provide the Aadhaar number or declare, “I am not able to furnish my Aadhaar because I don’t have Aadhaar number.”

Opting for the latter potentially meant that electors who did not want to give their Aadhaar details would have to make a false declaration of not having an Aadhaar card, which is an offence punishable under the RP Act, 1950. Although the EC had told the Supreme Court last year that it is not mandatory to provide Aadhaar numbers for linking with the electoral roll, the top court had asked the Commission to issue clarificatory changes in voter enrolment forms to reflect this.

The amendments sought by EC to the RP Act 1950 and voter enrolment forms are a consequence of that. Just last month, the top court declined to consider a contempt plea for not changing the enrolment forms in view of EC’s assertion that it was addressing the issue.

Over two months ago, EC had written to the Law Ministry proposing tweaks to Section 23(6) and Section 28(2)(hhhb) of the RP Act 1950. These sections state that no elector can be denied registration or deleted from the rolls for not providing Aadhaar, but they add that individuals should have “sufficient cause” for doing so. The EC is learned to have sought the deletion of the “sufficient cause” requirement.

Similarly, in Form 6 meant for the enrolment of new voters, the EC has asked the Law Ministry to amend the section pertaining to Aadhaar details so that prospective voters aren’t obligated to declare that they are not providing their Aadhaar number because they don’t have one.

The EC had first initiated the exercise of linking Aadhaar with EPIC in February 2015, when HS Brahma was Chief Election Commissioner. But the exercise was suspended in August of that year, after the Supreme Court restricted the use of Aadhaar to the Public Distribution System (PDS), and the distribution of LPG and kerosene. The EC had already linked 38 crore voter cards to Aadhaar by then.

In its final order passed in September 2018, the apex court held that although privacy is a fundamental right, it can be curtailed if there is either a specific law authorising collection of Aadhaar or if the interest of the state is involved or the test of proportionality is satisfied.

Following the Supreme Court’s order of September 2018, the EC had written to the government again to empower it to collect and use Aadhaar data for “cleaning” voters’ lists as a “back-end exercise”. The Parliament had passed a Bill to amend the RP Act, 1950 to this effect in December 2021.

The EC started collecting Aadhaar numbers from electors through a new form, Form-6B, in 2022 on a voluntary basis. While the amended Act says no elector can be denied registration or deleted off the rolls for not providing Aadhaar, it adds that they should have “sufficient cause” for doing so. It had collected 66.23 crore till September last year, when the Supreme Court was hearing the petition. This is about 68% of the total electors in the country, 96.99 crore as of February this year.

The Aadhaar details have not yet been linked to Voter IDs and used to check for duplicates, as per EC. Initially, the deadline for linking Aadhaar with Voter IDs was April 1, 2023, however, in March last year, the government extended it to March 31, 2024.