EC removes controversial Form 6 declaration after Commissioner flags it as ‘illegal’

The controversial SIR declaration attached to Form 6, which sought details of an applicant’s parents or grandparents and was termed “unauthorised and illegal” by Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, has been removed from the ECINET portal in states where the electoral-roll revision has concluded.

The removal came four days after the Election Commission announced that, during non-SIR periods, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used, The Indian Express reported.

The declaration, which had been inserted between Sections J and K of the online Form 6, is no longer visible on the portal for states where the final SIR electoral rolls have been published, although it remains available in states where the revision is still under way.

The development follows objections reportedly raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the addition of the declaration, as the statutory Form 6 can only be amended by the Union Law Ministry.

The declaration had asked applicants whether they, or their parents or grandparents, had been included in the last SIR, and, if so, required details such as the booth and serial number. However, while the declaration appeared on the online version of Form 6 available through ECINET, it was absent from the downloadable version of the form on the Election Commission’s website.

When the SIR was launched in Bihar in 2025, the Commission had introduced a separate declaration to be submitted alongside Form 6, rather than modifying the statutory enrolment form itself.

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the power to amend voter enrolment, deletion and correction forms rests with the Central Government, making the insertion of the additional declaration a matter of contention within the Commission.