New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that it had not approved any modification to Form 6 -- the statutory application used by citizens to register as voters -- days after the Election Commission of India (ECI), in a September 26 press note, stated that the additional declaration appended to Form 6 for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls (SIR) had been upheld by the Supreme Court. The court issued notice on a plea challenging alleged changes made to the form on the Election Commission's ECINet/ERONet portal during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. "Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let's be clear. When records will be produced, we would like to see who and what has modified," said a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, signalling that the court would examine the records to determine who authorised the changes and the nature of changes, if any. The court's clarification appeared to contradict ECI's claims. "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," ECI said in the September 26 release. To be sure, ECI was likely referring to the Supreme Court's May judgment concerning the SIR exercise in Bihar, in which the court examined the Commission's authority to call for additional documents while revising electoral rolls. The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was hearing a petition filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi challenging the alleged modifications, including additional requirements relating to an applicant's ancestry and declarations concerning the previous SIR. The court's intervention came amid a wider challenge to the functioning of the Election Commission and the manner in which decisions concerning the electoral-roll revision exercise have been taken. On Monday, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for Tripathi, told the bench that the manner in which SIR had been conducted in Delhi raised concerns over the voter-registration process. Form 6 is the statutory application prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, for a person seeking inclusion of their name in an electoral roll. The controversy centres on an additional declaration that was introduced in the online version of the form during the SIR exercise. The modified online version required applicants to declare whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR. The declaration was required to be furnished before an applicant could complete the online registration process....