No Form 6 change in SIR orders, ECI tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that it has made no change to Form 6, and the statutory form for adding names to electoral rolls, rejecting a claim that it amended the form through its orders for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

In a counter-affidavit filed before the apex court, the polling body said the allegation that it amended Form 6 through its SIR orders dated June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026, was misleading.

It said the declaration required under the SIR orders is a separate document and not part of Form 6, which only the Central Government can amend. The ECI said Form 6, as provided in the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, has not been amended by the Commission. The affidavit called the petitioner’s contention “misleading.”

The Commission said it revised the declaration that accompanies Form 6 to introduce a mapping mechanism. Applicants can use it to provide details of themselves, their parents or their grandparents as recorded in earlier electoral rolls. The facility was meant to help applicants establish eligibility and avoid submitting extra supporting documents at the claims and objections stage, provided they could furnish the relevant details.

The ECI said the declaration had been rationalised and that mapping was only a facilitative alternative. It told the court the declaration was first provided as Annexure D to the SIR order of June 24, 2025. It was later replaced by Annexure IV in the orders of October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026.

Applicants who cannot provide details linking them to previous SIR electoral rolls must furnish the prescribed supporting documents, the Commission said. The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) may issue a notice and, where necessary, give an opportunity for a hearing under the prescribed procedure.

The affidavit also cited a later decision to separate Form 6 and the SIR declaration in online applications, aligning the digital process with the physical one. It said the declaration had earlier been built into the online Form 6 interface so applicants could finish the process with a single OTP and electronic signature, instead of authenticating the two documents separately.

The ECI maintained that it issued the SIR orders under Article 324 of the Constitution and the statutory framework of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. It said the orders followed unanimous decisions of the three-member Commission.