India, July 10 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission why Aadhaar was not being accepted as proof of citizenship in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar, which goes to polls in October-November.

The question came up after senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan pointed out that even though Aadhaar is an acceptable document as per the Representation of Peoples Act, the poll panel is not considering it valid for the Bihar SIR.

At this, the SC bench asked the EC why. The EC's lawyer, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, told the court: "Aadhar Card cannot be used as proof of citizenship."

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia remarked: ". citizenship is an issue to be determined not by the Election Commission ...