EC removes SIR declaration from Form 6 in states where revision is complete

The Election Commission has removed the additional SIR-related declaration from the online voter enrolment Form 6 in states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been completed.

The move comes days after the full Commission decided that the additional declaration would be applicable only during the SIR exercise.

The declaration requires new applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision. It continues to be available on the ECINET portal in states and Union Territories where the SIR process is still underway.

In states where the exercise has been completed, the additional declaration has been removed from the ECINET app and portal as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer websites. Applicants in these states are now required to fill only the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The decision follows a September 26 meeting of the full Commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Following the meeting, the Election Commission said the declaration attached to Form 6 was specifically meant for the SIR exercise and that during the non-SIR period, forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.

The issue had earlier become controversial after it emerged that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections to changes relating to Form 6.

Form 6 is the statutory form used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls. Joshi had objected that a form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be altered without amending the rules. Sandhu supported his view.

After the SIR-related declaration was added to the online Form 6 process on ECINET, Sandhu again raised objections, describing the change as "unauthorised/illegal" and seeking its removal.

The Election Commission, however, has maintained in its public statements that Form 6 itself was not amended and that the declaration was an additional requirement specifically for the SIR exercise. It has also said that the declaration was upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment on the Bihar SIR.

The September 26 decisions came days after The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the previous 10 months to SIR-related decisions and orders that they said had been issued without their knowledge or recommendation.

In its September 26 statement, the Election Commission maintained that the orders concerning the SIR had received the unanimous approval of all three Election Commissioners.  (with inputs from PTI)