Supreme Court asks who changed Form 6; CJI says no modified version was approved by court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday raised questions over changes made to Form 6, used to register new voters. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said clearly that the court has not approved any modified version of Form 6.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant said: "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." In other words, once the record is produced, the court would want to see who made the change.

The court was hearing petitions alleging that the Election Commission took certain decisions without the approval of both its Election Commissioners. These include applications seeking the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The dispute stems from the Election Commission adding an additional declaration to Form 6 in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In this declaration, new applicants have to provide information linking their own name, or those of their parents or grandparents, to the electoral rolls prepared in the previous intensive revision.

The matter drew wider attention after a report said both Election Commissioners had objected to these changes. They are said to have argued that Form 6 is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and so cannot be altered by a single Election Commission directive. According to these objections, any major change would require the Union government to first amend the relevant rules.

The Election Commission has taken a different position. It says the declaration was specifically linked to the SIR process. On September 26, the Commission said the Supreme Court had already upheld the declaration attached to Form 6 in its judgment on the Bihar SIR.

A meeting of the full Commission followed, attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. After the meeting, the Commission clarified that the additional declaration would apply only during the SIR. In states and Union Territories where the process is complete, the declaration was removed from the ECINET app and portal and from the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers.

Applicants in these states must now fill only the Form 6 prescribed in the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. In states and Union Territories where the SIR is still under way, the additional declaration remains available. After the September 26 meeting, the Commission had also said that outside the SIR period, the form prescribed in the rules would be used.

The Supreme Court's latest remark has again brought to the fore the question of who approved the change to the legal voter registration form, and under which legal provision. The Chief Justice's direction to examine the record could bring closer court scrutiny of decision-making within the Commission.