EC looks to sort out legal issues for swift EPIC-Aadhaar linkage

New Delhi: Chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's initiative to call a meeting with the home secretary, legislative department secretary and UIDAI CEO on Tuesday to discuss EPIC-Aadhaar linkage comes against the backdrop of the notified date for an existing elector to voluntarily intimate his Aadhaar number to EC having expired almost a year ago.
There has been no extension after March 31, 2024, the deadline last notified by the law ministry for existing electors to willingly share their Aadhaar details with EC, in line with Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, as amended via the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022.
In Feb 2024, the Supreme Court - while hearing a plea challenging the statutory form for voter enrolment on the ground that it left no scope for an applicant issued an Aadhaar number but unwilling to furnish it, to submit an alternative identification - had dismissed the plea after being assured by EC that furnishing Aadhaar was not mandatory and that it would write to the law ministry to amend the RP Act to clear any confusion in this regard. This was after the EC counsel had informed the apex court that over 66.2 crore electors (as against the 99 crore currently enrolled) had voluntarily submitted their Aadhaar details.
Interestingly, as per law ministry's replies to questions in Parliament, the poll panel is yet to link the Aadhaar details intimated to it with the EPIC database. This linkage is crucial to establishing voters' identity via Aadhaar - seen as the most error-free method to eliminate bogus and duplicate electors as it involves biometric authentication.