Supreme Court says revised Form 6 legality remains undecided

The Supreme Court clarified on October 12 that it had neither approved nor rejected changes to Form 6, the voter-registration application, and said their legality remains to be examined. The Court said the revised form was not before it when it ruled on the Bihar electoral-roll revision in May. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, made the clarification while hearing a petition challenging the changes. The Court issued notice on the petition, bringing the Election Commission of India (ECI) into the proceedings. Reports differed on whether the next hearing is scheduled for October 27 or October 29, so no date is stated here as settled. The revised Form 6 adds a declaration for people applying to register as voters during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises. Applicants must provide information linking themselves or relatives to earlier SIR electoral rolls. The petition challenges the changes and argues that the form was altered without following the procedure required under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Those arguments remain before the Court and have not been decided.