The Election Commission has removed the additional Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related declaration from the online voter enrolment form, Form 6, in states where the electoral-roll revision process has concluded. The declaration remains available in states and Union territories where the SIR exercise is still underway.
The change was implemented on the ECINET application and portal on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, four days after the Commission announced that the statutory forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used during non-SIR periods. The additional declaration was also removed from the relevant Chief Electoral Officer portals.
What has changed
Form 6 is the statutory application used by eligible citizens to seek inclusion in the electoral roll. In the online version used during the SIR exercise, an additional declaration had been inserted between Sections J and K.
The declaration required applicants to provide information linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision. Applicants were also asked to provide related details, including the relevant assembly constituency, polling station and serial number in the earlier roll, according to reports.
With the removal of the declaration in states where the SIR has been completed, new applicants in those states will use the standard Form 6 prescribed under the 1960 rules. The additional family-mapping details will not be required as part of the regular enrolment process.
EC’s September 26 decision
The removal follows a September 26 meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
After the meeting, the Commission said the additional declaration was intended specifically for the SIR exercise. It clarified that, outside the SIR period, the forms applicable under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.
The Commission has maintained that the statutory Form 6 itself was not amended. According to its position, the declaration was an additional requirement linked to the SIR process and not a permanent alteration to the form. The poll panel has also said that the requirement was upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment relating to the Bihar SIR.
Sandhu, Joshi had raised objections
The move comes amid an internal dispute over the addition of the declaration to the online Form 6.
Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had objected to the change, arguing that a form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules could not be modified without an amendment to the rules. Sandhu later described the addition as “unauthorised” and “illegal” and sought its removal, according to reports cited by The Indian Express and other news outlets.
The Indian Express had reported that the Form 6 declaration could be amended only through the Union Law Ministry because the form is prescribed under the statutory rules. The report also said the additional declaration was introduced on the ECINET platform despite the objections.
Declaration remains during ongoing SIR
The additional declaration has not been removed from every jurisdiction. It continues to appear on the ECINET portal in states and Union territories where the SIR process is still in progress.
During the SIR, the Commission said the additional information was intended to help verify applicants against earlier electoral rolls and improve the accuracy of the voter lists. However, the requirement had raised concerns for young voters born after the earlier intensive revisions, as well as for applicants whose names had previously been deleted and who were seeking re-enrolment.
The latest portal changes therefore distinguish between states where the SIR is complete and those where the exercise is continuing: the standard statutory Form 6 applies in the former, while the SIR-linked declaration remains part of the online process in the latter.
