The Election Commission said Form 6 remains unchanged, with an additional Annexure D declaration required under SIR orders. The clarification came amid a reported disagreement over incorporating the declaration into the online Form 6, with EC sources saying all three commissioners had approved the relevant SIR orders.
A day after the Election Commission clarified that there was “no change” to Form 6, sources within the poll body said that both Election Commissioners, along with the Chief Election Commissioner, had unanimously approved the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for Bihar, the Summary Revision (SR) for Assam, the SIR orders for 12 States/UTs in the first phase and the SIR orders for 19 States/UTs in the second phase.
The sources pointed out that the approved SIR orders include a Declaration Form to be submitted along with Form 6 for new voters. They said the requirement is in line with Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and has also been upheld by the Supreme Court. The ECI has said the declaration is an additional requirement and does not alter the existing Form 6.
According to The Indian Express report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to the SIR declaration being incorporated into the online Form 6, arguing that the statutory form could not be altered without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 through the prescribed process.
The report then states that Joshi and Sandhu had raised objections in May to changes made to Form 6 during the SIR rollout. Joshi had warned that Form 6 could not be changed unless the government amended the 1960 rules, while Sandhu backed the objection, calling the move “unauthorised and illegal” and saying it “must be removed immediately.”
Speaking to India Today earlier, former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat and former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa supported the objections raised by Sandhu and Joshi.
The Election Commission, however, clarified that there had been no change to Form 6 itself and said the additional requirement was introduced through a separate declaration, or Annexure D, alongside the existing form.
The poll panel drew a distinction between the approved Form 6 and the added declaration linked to SIR.
“There has been no change to Form 6. The requirement relating to linkage with parents/grandparents has been introduced as an additional declaration alongside the existing and approved Form 6,” the Election Commission told India Today.