Delhi SIR | Thinking of passing an order: Supreme Court on plea over Form 6

The main petition says the EC failed to adequately disclose the names of electors issued notices during the SIR in Delhi, and the specific reasons for these notices.

Hearing an application on the confusion over the use of Form 6 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the Capital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it is “thinking of passing an order that will take care of it”. The court also advanced the hearing in the Delhi SIR matter from October 30 to October 28.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, was hearing an application which alleged that in Delhi, voters whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the SIR were being asked to submit Form 6 — used to enroll new voters — for re-inclusion of their names.

The application was filed in a pending petition challenging the Delhi SIR process.

Appearing for the applicants, Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the bench, which included Justice Joymalya Bagchi: “They are asking people to fill up Form 6 which contains a declaration that they have never voted before, and if they file false declaration, they are liable to imprisonment. We are seeking direction that ECI allow them to fill up Form 8, which is for shifted voters, or create some other form.”

He urged the court to list the matter for hearing on Friday.

The CJI noted that the main petition was fixed for hearing on October 30 and said the court would advance it to October 28 and take up this application too.

As Bhushan pointed out that October 30 is the last date for filing claims and objections under the SIR, the bench sought to reassure him that it would pass orders to address the situation.

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“We are thinking of passing an order that will take care of it,” the CJI said.

The petition and the application have been filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri.

The main petition says the EC failed to adequately disclose the names of electors issued notices during the SIR in Delhi, and the specific reasons for these notices.

On September 22, the SC had observed that the notices seemed to have been issued “mechanically” to “doubtful” voters, and asked the EC to see if some additional filters needed to be put in place to further refine the process.

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Meanwhile, the court is set to take up on Thursday a clutch of petitions challenging the restrictions placed in and around the Capital on October 10 in the wake of protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 26 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with the daily newspaper, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More