The Election Commission of India (ECI) has defended its handling of Form 6, the statutory application used by citizens to seek inclusion in electoral rolls, after the Supreme Court questioned whether the poll panel had altered the form during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. On October 5, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the Supreme Court had not approved any modified version of Form 6 and directed that the ECI’s records be examined to establish what changes were made and who authorised them.
Sources within the Election Commission told News18 that the poll body had “not changed even a comma or full stop” in the original Form 6, maintaining that only a separate declaration page had been added for the SIR exercise. The dispute centres on whether this additional declaration effectively changed the voter-registration process and whether the ECI followed the legally prescribed procedure to introduce it.
Opposition parties have questioned the legality and transparency of the move, while the Commission has maintained that the additional declaration was part of the SIR framework and did not alter the statutory form itself. The controversy now moves back to the Supreme Court, which is examining the records to determine how the additional requirement came to be introduced.
What The Declaration Asked
Form 6 is ordinarily used by eligible citizens, particularly new voters, to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. During the SIR exercise, an additional declaration appeared alongside the online form, asking applicants to provide details establishing a link with an earlier electoral roll. Depending on the applicant’s circumstances, this could involve stating whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll prepared during an earlier intensive revision.
Although the section was described as non-mandatory, reports said applicants could not proceed with submitting the online form without responding to it. This became a point of concern within the Election Commission itself. Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi reportedly recorded in May that Form 6 was prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and therefore could not be altered without amending the rules through the prescribed process.
Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu subsequently concurred, reportedly describing the change as “unauthorised” and “illegal” and calling for its removal. The ECI has offered a different interpretation, saying that the statutory Form 6 itself remained untouched and that the additional declaration was a separate requirement connected specifically to SIR. Poll panel sources also argued that the SIR framework had been approved unanimously by all three Election Commissioners.
How The Dispute Grew
The controversy gained wider attention after reports in September highlighted objections within the three-member Election Commission over the incorporation of the SIR declaration into the online Form 6 process. The ECI subsequently said that its decisions relating to electoral-roll revision and SIR had received the unanimous approval of the full Commission.
On September 26, it further clarified that the additional declaration was intended specifically for the SIR period and that the standard forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would apply outside the exercise. Days later, the Commission removed the additional declaration from its ECINET portal in states where SIR had already concluded, leaving applicants to use the statutory Form 6. The declaration remained available in areas where SIR was still underway.
The matter nevertheless reached the Supreme Court, where the ECI’s position that the additional declaration was covered by its SIR powers came under scrutiny. The Commission had referred to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling upholding the ECI’s authority to conduct SIR, but the court has now clarified that this did not amount to approval of a modified Form 6. CJI Surya Kant said, “Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us,” adding that the court would examine the records to determine who made the changes.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Voter registration is one of the most fundamental gateways to democratic participation, which makes clarity in the process especially important. Whether the additional declaration legally amounted to a change in Form 6 is now a matter for the Supreme Court and the relevant statutory framework to settle. At the same time, the disagreement between the court’s observation, the Election Commission’s explanation and objections reportedly raised by two Election Commissioners highlights why electoral procedures must be transparent, consistent and easily understood by ordinary citizens.
New voters should not be left wondering whether an additional requirement could affect their ability to register or whether they have been asked to navigate a process that differs from the one prescribed in law. Institutions entrusted with protecting the democratic process must be able to explain their decisions openly, while political parties and critics should allow due process to establish the facts rather than allowing the dispute to deepen public mistrust.
A clear judicial determination, accompanied by transparent records and accessible guidance for voters, can help restore confidence on all sides. In a democracy, disagreement is healthy when it leads to greater accountability rather than division. How do you think the Election Commission and the Supreme Court can make voter registration more transparent and easier for citizens to understand?
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