The Chief Election Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra, Shrikant Deshpande said on Monday that the Voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards will be linked to establish the identity of electors and the authentication of entries in the electoral roll.

Addressing the media in Mumbai, Deshpande said that linking Voter ID with Aadhaar will help in identifying registration of the name of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency.

He said, "Voter ID cards to be linked to Aadhaar card with a view to establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in the electoral roll and to identify registration of the name of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency."

Deshpande further mentioned that the Election Commission of India (ECI) will start a campaign to link Voter ID cards with Aadhaar cards from August 1, across the state.

It may be noted that the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, for the authorisation of linking Aadhaar with Voter IDs was passed by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote in December, 2021.

The Supreme Court had asked Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala to approach the Delhi High Court with his plea challenging the Election Law (Amendment) Act earlier in the day.

Surjewala was granted the liberty to approach Delhi High Court by a bench consisting of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna.

The bench in its order said, "Since the PIL petitioner challenges the validity of Section 4 and 5 of the Election Law Amendment Act an efficacious alternate remedy is before the High Court. we grant liberty to move High court under article 226."

The Congress leader had mentioned in his plea that the linkage of Aadhaar and Voter ID is completely "irrational" because the impunged amendment intends to link two completely distinct documents.

The Aadhaar Card being a proof of residency and EPIC/Voter ID being a proof of citizenship, mentioned Surjewala.