New Delhi: The Election Commission has removed the additional declaration linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from the online Form 6 used for new voter enrolment in states where the revision exercise has been completed.
The additional requirement was removed from the ECINET portal on Wednesday, following a decision taken by the full Commission on September 26. The Election Commission had clarified that the extra declaration was intended specifically for the SIR exercise and would not be required during the non-SIR period.
The declaration had required new applicants to provide information connecting themselves, their parents or grandparents with electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision. It continues to be applicable in states and Union Territories where the SIR process is still underway.
In areas where the exercise has concluded, applicants seeking inclusion in the electoral roll will now use the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The additional declaration had triggered a dispute within the Election Commission after Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly raised objections to changes associated with Form 6. The objections centred on whether a statutory form prescribed under the 1960 rules could be altered without a corresponding amendment to the rules.
The Election Commission has maintained that Form 6 itself was not amended and that the additional declaration was a separate requirement introduced specifically in connection with SIR. The panel’s September 26 decision stated that the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules would be used outside the SIR period.
The controversy emerged amid wider questions about the functioning of the three-member Election Commission and differences reported over several decisions related to the electoral roll revision exercise.
The current phase of SIR covers multiple states and Union Territories, with the additional declaration continuing to apply where the exercise remains in progress.
Sorry, there was a YouTube error.
