New Delhi, Oct. 12 -- The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that it had neither approved nor rejected the Election Commission's revised Form 6, stating that the issue was not examined during hearings on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made the observation while hearing a petition related to the SIR exercise. Form 6 is used by eligible individuals to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls.
The clarification came after counsel for the petitioner argued that the Election Commission had claimed the Supreme Court approved the revised form. The lawyer referred to the court's October 5 observation that it had not cleared any modifications to Form 6 used during SIR exercises in various states.
"There is no adjudication on the new Form 6. That is all we have said," Justice Bagchi said.
He explained that the revised form was not part of the issues before the court when it heard the Bihar SIR case. The bench clarified that the absence of the form from those proceedings could not be interpreted as either its approval or rejection.
The court said the petition would be heard alongside other pending cases concerning the SIR process on October 27.
The issue follows a September 26 press release by the Election Commission, which suggested that the Supreme Court had upheld the Form 6 declaration in its May 2026 judgment concerning the Bihar SIR.
A separate petition heard on October 5 questioned changes to Form 6 and cited provisions of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. It referred specifically to Section 18, which governs decision-making within the commission and provides that the majority view prevails when members disagree.
The petition also alleged that requirements seeking ancestral details and links to the previous SIR had been introduced through the commission's software without the statutory amendments required under electoral rules.
The court's latest observation leaves the validity of the revised Form 6 open for consideration in the pending proceedings.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.