Delhi poll body says voters left out of draft SIR roll can fill Form 6 without fear of prosecution

New Delhi: The Delhi poll body on Wednesday said that voters whose names were excluded from the draft electoral roll during the SIR can submit Form 6 for inclusion without facing prosecution merely because they had been enrolled previously.

According to a statement by the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), no action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, would be initiated against an elector solely on the ground that their name figured in a previous electoral roll and they had submitted Form 6 during or after the SIR process.

The clarification comes amid apprehensions among previously enrolled voters that submitting Form 6, which carries a declaration that the applicant is seeking inclusion in the electoral roll for the first time, could amount to making a false declaration and expose them to prosecution.


The Election Commission of India, through a letter dated November 3, stated that such voters could apply afresh for inclusion in the electoral roll, irrespective of their previous enrolment, provided they were not already enrolled in another parliamentary or assembly constituency and their declaration was otherwise in accordance with law, the statement read.

The Delhi CEO's office also referred to a Delhi High Court order dated October 14 in the case of 'Nilotpal Datta and another versus Election Commission of India', in which the court had rejected the petitioners' apprehension that submitting Form 6 despite having been enrolled previously would amount to a false declaration. The court had allowed them to submit the form for processing in accordance with law.

The clarification comes against the backdrop of concerns over the use of Form 6 for voters excluded from the draft electoral roll, with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday alleging that the Election Commission was still insisting that such voters apply as new electors.

The issue had also figured before the Supreme Court, which, on October 28, observed that the poll panel was in error in requiring previously enrolled voters deleted during the SIR to apply as new voters through Form 6, according to the submissions made in the matter.

The draft electoral roll published on August 31 had excluded 47.56 lakh electors in Delhi.

Between August 31 and November 3, the election authorities received 2,92,399 Form 6 applications, 26,869 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names and 1,09,098 Form 8 applications for correction or modification of electoral entries.

According to the Delhi CEO's statement, as of November 4, out of 33.1 lakh notices issued to electors for no-mapping and 'logical discrepancies', 32,35,212 electors had been parked for the final electoral roll.

The Election Commission last week extended the deadline for filing claims and objections to November 25 and rescheduled publication of the final electoral roll from November 4 to December 22. The disposal of claims and objections has been scheduled to be completed by December 15.