English
English
English
EC removes SIR declaration where roll revision ends (Img: IANS)
New Delhi: Amid controversy over voter enrolment process, the Election Commission has removed the additional Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related declaration from Form 6 in states and Union territories where the electoral roll revision exercise has been completed.
The change means that people applying for inclusion in the electoral roll in these states will only have to complete the regular statutory Form 6. The additional declaration, which was introduced specifically for the SIR exercise, has been removed from the ECINET app and portal and from the respective Chief Electoral Officer websites.
The key change concerns an additional declaration that had been attached to the online Form 6 process during SIR.
Form 6 is the statutory application used by eligible citizens to seek inclusion in the electoral roll. During SIR, an additional declaration was made part of the online application process, requiring new applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier SIR.
The Election Commission has now removed that additional requirement in states and Union territories where the SIR exercise has already been completed.
However, the declaration has not been removed everywhere. In jurisdictions where SIR is still underway, the additional declaration continues to be available on the ECINET portal.
Also Read: CEC Row Takes Centre Stage at INDIA Bloc Meeting; Opposition’s Key Demands on Agenda
The declaration was linked specifically to the SIR exercise, under which electoral rolls are subjected to an intensive revision.
According to the Election Commission, the additional declaration was not an amendment to Form 6 itself. Instead, it was an SIR-specific requirement added to the voter enrolment process during the revision exercise.
After its September 26 meeting, the full Commission said the declaration was meant "specifically for SIR" and that “for non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used.”
Therefore, once SIR is over in a particular state or Union territory, applicants revert to the normal Form 6 process.
The issue became controversial after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to changes concerning Form 6.
Joshi had reportedly objected to modifications to the form, arguing that a statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be changed without amending the rules. Sandhu had concurred with him.
After the SIR-specific declaration was incorporated into the online Form 6 process on ECINET, Sandhu again objected and described the change as “unauthorised/illegal”, while seeking its removal.
The Election Commission has maintained that Form 6 itself was never amended. Its position has been that the additional declaration was a separate requirement applicable specifically during SIR.
The Commission has also said that the declaration was upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment relating to the Bihar SIR.
Also Read: ‘No Locus Standi’: India Hits Back at Turkey President Erdogan Over Kashmir Comments
According to the Indian Express report, Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on record at least 14 times over the preceding 10 months regarding decisions and orders connected with SIR.
The report said the objections related to claims that certain decisions had been issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The issue prompted the full Commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi, to meet on September 26.
Following the meeting, the Commission maintained that orders relating to SIR had received the unanimous approval of all three election commissioners.
For applicants in states where SIR has been completed, the process is now straightforward: they need to submit the regular statutory Form 6 without the additional SIR declaration.
For applicants in states and Union territories where SIR is still in progress, the additional declaration remains part of the online process.
In practical terms, the requirement therefore depends on whether the SIR exercise has been completed in the applicant’s jurisdiction.
The change comes amid a wider political confrontation between the Congress-led Opposition and the Election Commission over SIR.
Parties in the INDIA bloc are scheduled to meet in New Delhi to discuss their course of action concerning Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR exercise.
The Congress has raised questions over the conduct of SIR and has demanded the removal of Kumar. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has defended its decisions and maintained that its SIR-related orders were approved unanimously.
The latest Form 6 change does not end the wider dispute over SIR, but it clarifies how voter enrolment will work in jurisdictions where the revision exercise has already concluded.
