ECI Removes SIR Declaration From Form 6 In States Where Revision Has Ended Already

The Election Commission has removed the SIR-linked declaration from Form 6 in states where the electoral roll revision exercise has ended.

By Pranjal Gupta

New Delhi, September 30: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has removed an additional declaration linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from the online voter enrolment Form 6 in states where the revision exercise has been completed, days after the full Commission decided that the requirement would apply only during the SIR exercise.

The additional declaration required new applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision.

The declaration continues to appear on the ECINET app and portal in states and Union Territories where SIR is still underway. However, in states where the exercise has concluded, it has been removed from ECINET as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer websites.

Applicants in these states will now have to fill only the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, to be included in the electoral roll.

Election Commission removes additional SIR declaration from Form 6 after deciding the requirement would apply only during the revision exercise. (Image Soirce: X/ECI)

Extra Declaration Meant Only For SIR

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

After the meeting, the EC said the additional declaration attached to Form 6 was meant specifically for SIR and that, outside the SIR period, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.

Form 6 is the statutory form used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls.

The additional declaration had become a point of controversy after Sandhu and Joshi raised objections to changes concerning Form 6.

Joshi had objected to changes in the form, arguing that a form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules could not be modified without an amendment to the rules. Sandhu had concurred with him.

Sandhu later objected to the incorporation of the SIR-related declaration into the online Form 6 process, describing the change as “unauthorised/illegal” and seeking its removal.

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

EC Faces Questions Over Internal Differences On SIR

The latest decision comes amid wider questions over differences within the poll panel over the conduct of the SIR exercise.

The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to SIR-related decisions and orders that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.

The EC, in its September 26 statement, rejected that characterisation and said orders relating to SIR had the unanimous approval of all three Election Commissioners.

The removal of the additional declaration from Form 6 in states where SIR has ended effectively clarifies that the requirement is being treated as an SIR-specific measure rather than a permanent change to the statutory voter enrolment form.

(With PTI Inputs)