EC withdraws SIR declaration from Form 6

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has withdrawn the controversial declaration linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) from the online Form 6 used by new voters to apply for inclusion in electoral list.

According to reports, the declaration would not be required in states where the SIR has been completed or in states where the exercise is yet to start. The decision was taken at a meeting of the full Election Commission on September 26, the sources said.

They further informed that it was decided unanimously that there would be no change in Form 6, either during the SIR exercise or in the non-SIR period.

The declaration form was an additional document which was asked for in states where SIR was being conducted as per the Commission’s SIR order of June 24, 2025, sources informed further, adding that this was as per the unanimous decision of the Commission at that point of time.

However, the ECI’s statement issued on September 26 had no mention of the decision to withdraw the declaration from states where SIR had been completed or was yet to begin.  “The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. For non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used,” the Commission had said.

The controversial declaration which required new applicants to furnish details linking themselves or their parents or grandparents to electoral rolls prepared during an earlier intensive revision, remains available on the ECINET portal in states and Union Territories where the SIR is underway, agencies reported.

In states where SIR has concluded, the additional declaration has now been removed from the ECINET app and portal as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer portals, leaving applicants seeking enrolment to fill only the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, they further said.

The development has come days after reports that the issue of changes in Form 6 had become a point of controversy within the poll panel after it emerged that the two election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had reportedly raised objections over changes relating to Form 6. Form 6 is the statutory form used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll.

Reports had said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to changes to the form. Joshi had argued that the form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be modified without amending the rules. Sandhu had concurred with him.