Delhi SIR: Supreme Court Asks Whether Voters Can Lose the Right to Vote for Missing an Enumeration Form
On 28 October 2026, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana heard a petition about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Delhi. The petition said notices sent to voters lacked transparency.
About 47 lakh of Delhi's 1.45 crore voters were left out of the draft voter list. The petitioners said about 43 lakh of them were marked as "shifted" or "absent", partly because forms went to old addresses.
The court asked whether a voter can lose the right to vote forever just for not returning an enumeration form (the form each existing voter fills during an SIR). It called the right to vote a vital right.
The court asked why voters who were already on earlier rolls are being told to file Form 6, which is meant for first-time voters. It said Forms 6, 7 and 8 are fixed statutory formats that the Election Commission of India (ECI) cannot change, though it may add declarations during an SIR.
The court suggested: a new category besides "shifted" and "absent", a longer deadline, publishing the list of deleted names, and letting such persons use a simpler Form 8 through their Booth Level Officer (BLO). It also said a temporary move for work is not a change of residence under the Representation of the People Act.
The ECI said deleted persons can still apply until the last date of nominations, so exclusion is not final, and agreed to discuss the suggestions. The bench noted that its earlier Bihar SIR judgment did not settle every question about SIR. The matter will be heard again after two weeks.
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 is a very detailed check in which the list is rebuilt almost from scratch. Officials go house to house, collect an enumeration form from each voter and verify eligibility. Names that are not confirmed are left out of the draft roll, and people then file claims and objections before the final roll is published.
In Delhi, about 47 lakh names fell off the draft roll. The court's concern is that people already on old rolls are being pushed into the "first-time voter" Form 6 route, instead of a simpler correction route like Form 8, which could wrongly shut them out.
Article 326 and the Right to Vote
Article 326 says elections to the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies will be held on the basis of universal adult suffrage: every citizen aged 18 or above can vote, unless disqualified by law. Courts have described the right to vote as a statutory right (given by law), while the freedom to express a choice while voting is linked to free speech. Because only people on the roll can vote, wrongly removing a name takes away this right in practice.
The bench's question, whether "laxity" in returning a form can mean losing the right to vote forever, goes to the heart of Article 326. Disqualification is meant only for grounds set by law, not for missing paperwork.
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. The ECI and its officers work within this Act and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 made under it. The companion law, the RPA 1951, deals with the actual conduct of elections and disqualification of candidates.
The court relied on the idea in Section 20 that a temporary move for work is not a change of residence. The ECI relied on Section 23 to say deleted voters can still come back before nominations close. Petitioners worried that forcing Form 6 would make people falsely declare they never voted before, which could expose them to Section 31.
- Bench: CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Justice V. Mohana; hearing on 28 October 2026
- Delhi voters: 1.45 crore; about 47 lakh left out of the draft roll; about 43 lakh shown as shifted or absent
- Form 6: new inclusion; Form 7: objection or deletion; Form 8: correction or shifting
- Forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
- Bihar SIR judgment: 27 May 2026
- Article 326: universal adult suffrage; voting age 18 since the 61st Amendment Act, 1988
- RPA 1950: Section 19 (eligibility), Section 20 (ordinary residence), Section 21(3) (special revision), Section 23 (inclusion up to last date of nominations), Section 31 (false declaration)
- Next hearing: after two weeks