Supreme Court clarifies stance on Form 6 voter registration alterations

The Supreme Court on Monday clarified its position regarding the controversial alterations made to Form 6, which is used for new voter registrations. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, stated that the court had neither approved nor disapproved these modifications. The judges explained that the court’s previous judgment on May 27, 2026, which addressed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar, pre-dated the changes to the form. Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked during the hearing that the court would now proceed to examine the legality of the new requirements.The clarification came during a hearing on a petition filed by Priya Mishra against the Union government. The petition challenges the adjustments made to Form 6 in July, which mandated that applicants provide ancestry details or proof of linkage to previous electoral rolls via the ECINet portal. The petitioner's counsel argued that the Election Commission has continued to justify the changes by claiming judicial approval, despite earlier oral remarks from the Chief Justice of India on October 5 indicating that the court had not endorsed the modifications.Form 6 is a statutory document defined under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The court previously observed that while Form 6 provides a framework for documentation, the verification process should not be entirely subjective or unguided. The recent modifications required new applicants to declare whether they or their ancestors were registered in previous electoral rolls, making responses to these linkage questions a strict prerequisite for submission. The Supreme Court has now signaled its intent to scrutinize whether such alterations should have been implemented through formal lawmaking processes rather than through administrative actions. The court is expected to deliberate further on the implications of these changes for the ongoing voter registration exercises across several states.