Supreme Court denies approving modified Form 6; ECI orders special enrolment drive

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed 20 states and Union Territories to conduct a special drive to enrol eligible voters left off electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The directive, issued on September 29 and reiterated on October 2, comes after nearly 133 million names were excluded during the SIR process. Over 95 million removals were categorised as "absent, shifted and others," 27 million due to deaths, and 10.1 million as duplicate entries.

The Supreme Court clarified on October 5 that it had not approved modifications to Form 6, the application for new voter registration. Chief Justice Surya Kant stated the court wanted to see records identifying who altered the form. The ECI had claimed on September 26 that the additional declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR had been upheld by the apex court.

“Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let's be clear. When the record is produced, we would like to see who has modified.”

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of changing Form 6 "illegally and unilaterally," calling it a "criminal assault on democracy." Congress leader Jairam Ramesh echoed the charge. The ECI maintains the statutory Form 6 was not changed, only an additional declaration was added for the SIR period.

Over 300 opposition MPs marched to the Election Commission on October 6 demanding a meeting with commissioners. Gandhi threatened that those responsible, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, "will not be spared." The controversy centres on changes made in July requiring applicants to provide parents' details from the previous SIR.

The Supreme Court's May 27 judgement on the Bihar SIR held the ECI retained authority to devise a documentation framework but said this power was "not unbounded" and must remain within the statutory scheme. The court emphasised a "calibrated balance" between adapting the framework and the existing legal structure.