‘Deleted voter filing Form 6 not false declaration’: Election Commission tells Bombay High Court amid SIR row

The Election Commission of India recently informed the Bombay High Court that a deleted voter filing Form 6 for re-inclusion during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise does not constitute a false declaration. Santa Cruz resident Paresh Salgaonkar and six family members were removed from the electoral roll after changing their address within the same constituency before the enumeration phase.

They submitted Form 8 on December 2, 2025, two days before the initial deadline for enumeration. Their names were absent from the final roll, notified on February 21. The High Court questioned whether ECI's procedure was in line with the Representation of the People's Act and its provisions for revision exercises. ECI argued that once the final roll is notified, the old roll becomes irrelevant, and the SIR process is treated as starting anew.

They stated that the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, treat SIR as preparing the roll for the first time. The court countered, arguing that in SIR, people are not removed from the draft roll but effectively from the existing roll. The bench emphasized that Salgaonkar's new voter status should be acknowledged in the existing roll, not the draft roll.