SC denies approving modified Form 6 for new voters, will probe changes

The Supreme Court clarified it has not approved any modified version of Form 6 for new voter enrolment. The court will examine who introduced changes to the form after the Election Commission claimed the new declaration was approved by the apex court.

SC Denies Approving Modified Form 6

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 being used for enrolment of new voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the court would examine the record to ascertain who had introduced the changes after the Election Commission claimed last week that the new declaration attached to the online Form 6 had been approved by the apex court. “Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let’s be clear. When the record is produced, we would like to see who has modified it,” the CJI observed.

Plea Seeks Probe into Alleged Unilateral Changes

The clarification came while hearing a plea filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi seeking prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other officials over alleged unilateral decisions concerning the SIR exercise.

The controversy concerns a new declaration in Form 6 requiring applicants to state whether they or their parents were mapped in the previous SIR. The requirement was not part of the earlier Form 6 used during SIR exercises in other States. The petitioner has sought an independent judicial inquiry into the alleged decisions and initiation of prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy appeared for the petitioner and raised concerns over changes made to Form 6, which is used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion of their names in electoral rolls. The bench issued notice and tagged the plea with a similar matter challenging the Election Commission’s decisions.

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