In a significant shift, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has removed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) declaration from the online version of Form 6 on its ECINet portal. This move marks the culmination of a series of reversals by the commission, addressing internal objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the past ten months. The declaration, which required new voter applicants to verify historical electoral roll data, has now been separated into a distinct document, moving away from its previous position embedded within the statutory application form.
The controversy surrounding the inclusion of the SIR declaration in Form 6 was first highlighted following internal notes from the two Commissioners. Vivek Joshi recorded his objection on May 16, 2026, stating that the form could not be modified without a formal legal amendment. Later, on August 13, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu formally described the inclusion of the declaration as "unauthorised/illegal" and demanded its immediate removal. Despite these protests, the requirement persisted on the portal, necessitating that applicants provide details regarding their own or their ancestors' presence in electoral rolls from the early 2000s.
The ECI’s decision to separate the documents follows a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on October 26. In the filing, the Commission noted that its Electoral Roll Division decided on October 21 to decouple the SIR declaration from Form 6 to ensure adherence to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The Commission clarified that while the original integration was intended to streamline the process for applicants—allowing for a single OTP and e-signature—it acknowledged that the display "could be construed as though an amendment of Form 6 had been made."
This outcome represents the third position taken by the Commission on the matter within six weeks. Initially, the ECI maintained that its actions were fully in accordance with the law and described the Commissioners' internal concerns merely as operational inputs. A later statement suggested the declaration would be limited only to states undergoing intensive revision, such as Delhi and Maharashtra. However, following judicial scrutiny and subsequent internal reviews, the Commission has now moved to fully separate the SIR declaration from the standard Form 6 nationwide.
The legal contention centered on the fact that Form 6 is a statutory instrument prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. As such, any changes to its structure are legally required to be made by the Central Government. By maintaining the declaration within the digital flow of the form, critics and the Commissioners argued that the Commission had effectively overstepped its administrative mandate. The ECI’s latest move brings the digital application process into alignment with the physical, two-part structure used in traditional voter enrolment.
While the ECI maintains that Form 6 was never officially amended, the recent change acknowledges the validity of the concerns raised regarding the presentation of the online platform. The decision to make the SIR declaration a separate document from the statutory form is intended to resolve the ambiguity that previously existed. Applicants will now navigate the online portal by interacting with the prescribed Form 6 and the separate SIR document, bringing the process in line with the legal protocols that Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi insisted upon throughout the year.
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