Delhi SIR case: Supreme Court agrees to ‘take care of’ ECI move to restore deleted voters as fresh voters

The Supreme Court of India has decided to intervene in the case of Delhi voters who were deleted from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant heard arguments from advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, representing petitioners Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri.

The Election Commission (EC) is now asking these deleted voters to fill out Form 6, a document that requires them to declare they have never voted before, which they claim is inaccurate and inappropriate. Form 6, as prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules of 1960, mandates applicants to affirm that they are applying for inclusion in the electoral roll for the first time.

Bhushan argued that the Election Commission should either allow these voters to file Form 8, designed for displaced voters, or create a new form specifically for voters deleted in the SIR process. The court has agreed to pass an order that will address this issue, advancing the hearing date from October 30 to October 28. The SIR process excluded 47,56,722 electors (32.78% of the voters) from the draft electoral roll in Delhi under the category of ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate).

These individuals are required to submit Form 6 and make a false declaration, which could result in punishment under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The petition also pointed out that the additional declaration form required along with Form 6 is without legal force and should be struck down.