Supreme Court says it has neither approved nor rejected the Election Commission's new Form 6

The Supreme Court said on Monday, October 12, that it has not ruled on the Election Commission of India's revised Form 6, the application used to register as a voter, and that its earlier remarks should not be read as approval or rejection of the changes. Reports say the court listed the challenge for October 27.

What the court said

The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard a petition over the form, according to NorthEast Now and the Free Press Journal. The Free Press Journal quotes the bench as telling counsel that there has been no adjudication on the new Form 6. Both reports say Justice Bagchi explained that the Chief Justice's October 5 remarks meant only that the revised form did not exist when the court decided the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case.

On October 5, according to Business Today, the Chief Justice had said "Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let's be clear." Scroll.in reports that on Monday he told the petitioner not to pick up the court's words for his own side, whether the form was approved or not.

The revised form

The reports describe the change in similar terms. The revised Form 6 adds a declaration for new applicants asking whether they, or a parent or grandparent, appeared on electoral rolls from an earlier SIR. NorthEast Now and Scroll.in report that the declaration is not marked mandatory but the online form cannot be submitted without answering it. Business Today describes the question as covering the applicant or parents being included or mapped in the previous SIR.

The legality of the change is contested. NorthEast Now says critics argue it could make registration harder for first-time voters whose families were not on older rolls, and question whether the Election Commission could change a statutory form without amending the rules. Both NorthEast Now and Scroll.in report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly objected to introducing the requirement without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The Election Commission's statement

The controversy follows a September 26 statement in which the Election Commission said the Supreme Court had upheld the declaration, according to NorthEast Now, the Free Press Journal and Scroll.in. Scroll.in reports that the petitioners argued the poll panel had presented the new form as carrying the court's approval and asked for a direction. The court's position, as the bench put it on Monday, is that no such ruling exists. The reports read do not include a response from the Election Commission to the court's clarification.

What happens next

The Free Press Journal and Business Today report that the bench agreed to examine the issue and listed the petition for October 27 alongside other SIR-related matters. Business Today says that hearing is expected to cover both the validity of the revised form and broader challenges to the Election Commission's conduct of the SIR, including petitions seeking action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. NorthEast Now does not mention the October 27 date.