Form 6 for Voters Left Out of the SIR Challenged in the Supreme Court: How Names Get Back on the Voter List
A petition in the Supreme Court has challenged the use of Form 6 to bring back voters whose names were left out during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls (voter lists).
Form 6 is the application form for adding a new name to the voter list. Under the SIR, people left out of the draft roll are asked to file Form 6, with a declaration and supporting documents, during the claims period.
The petitioners point to what they call a "fundamental anomaly". Form 6 asks every applicant to affirm that they are applying for inclusion for the first time. But many of the people left out were already registered voters before the SIR.
The new online Form 6 also asks applicants whether they, their parents or grandparents appeared in the previous SIR roll. On 12 October 2026, the Supreme Court said it has neither approved nor disapproved this new Form 6 declaration, and will examine it.
Petitions about the new Form 6 and related decisions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) are listed for hearing on 27 October 2026.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls
An electoral roll is the official list of voters for a constituency, and only people on it can vote. A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a very detailed check of this list, in which it is rebuilt almost from scratch. Officials go house to house, collect forms from voters and check their details. The power to order it comes from Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Article 324 of the Constitution.
The petition asks a simple question with big effects: if a person was a voter before the SIR and was left out, should they have to apply as if they were a new voter? Using a "first-time" form for a returning voter, plus a new declaration about family members in the previous roll, is what the court will now examine.
Representation of the People Act, 1950: The Law Behind Voter Lists and Seats
The Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA 1950) is the law that decides who can be a voter and how voter lists are prepared and corrected. It also allocates seats in Parliament and state legislatures. The actual conduct of elections (nominations, polling, disputes) is covered by a separate law, the RPA 1951. Under RPA 1950, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of each constituency prepares and maintains the roll.
Section 23 gives any eligible person the right to ask for their name to be included, and Section 28 decides who can change the forms used for this. The petitioners argue that the right to be put back on the roll should not depend on a form designed for first-time voters, or on a declaration that was not added through the rules.
- Form 6: inclusion of name (first-time voter or shifting from another constituency); Rules 13(1) and 26, Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
- Form 7: objection or deletion; Form 8: correction, shifting, replacement of EPIC; Form 6B: Aadhaar (voluntary)
- SIR power: Section 21(3), RP Act, 1950, read with Article 324
- Rule-making power for voter forms: Section 28, RP Act, 1950 (Central Government, after consulting the ECI)
- ASDD: Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate: names left out of the draft roll
- Supreme Court SIR judgment upholding ECI's power: 27 May 2026
- Supreme Court on 12 October 2026: no ruling yet on the new Form 6 declaration; connected petitions listed on 27 October 2026