SC advances Delhi SIR hearing after plea flags deleted voters being asked to fill Form 6

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday advanced the hearing on pleas challenging the special intensive revision of Delhi's electoral rolls to October 28 after it was informed that voters whose names were deleted during the exercise were being asked to fill Form 6, meant for first-time inclusion in the electoral roll.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi indicated that it was considering passing an order to address the issue, given that the deadline for filing claims and objections is October 30.

"We are thinking of passing an order that will take care of all this," CJI Kant said after advocate Prashant Bhushan sought an urgent hearing on an application filed by RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj and social activist Amrita Johri.


The application challenges ECI's requirement that previously enrolled electors whose names were omitted from the draft electoral roll submit Form 6 for their re-inclusion.

The petitioners contend that Form 6 requires applicants to declare that they are seeking inclusion in the electoral roll for the first time. They argued that compelling previously enrolled voters to make such a declaration would be factually incorrect and could expose them to penal consequences under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which deals with false declarations.

They have sought directions to the poll panel to provide an appropriate mechanism or form for restoring the names of previously enrolled voters without requiring them to make a declaration that does not reflect their circumstances.

The bench has advanced the hearing of the main Delhi SIR matter and the related application to October 28.