CONGRESS SEEKS SUPREME COURT SCRUTINY OF FORM 6 CHANGE, ALLEGES BARRIER FOR YOUNG VOTERS

September 26, 2026

NEW DELHI: The Congress has urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the Election Commission's instructions requiring new voters to provide details related to the previous Special Intensive Revision (SIR) while applying for enrolment through Form 6. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of unlawfully altering the voter-registration process, allegations the Election Commission has disputed.

Ramesh alleged that an additional declaration was introduced on the Election Commission's online portal in July without a formal notification or amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. He argued that Form 6 is a statutory form and that changes to it require action by the Union government under the existing legal framework.

The controversy centres on a declaration requiring applicants to indicate whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral rolls during the previous SIR, or whether none of them appeared. According to the report, applicants cannot proceed with the online Form 6 submission without completing the declaration.

The Election Commission has rejected the assertion that Form 6 itself was amended, saying the additional declaration was introduced through instructions. The poll panel has also said that 2.37 crore electors aged between 18 and 28 have been added since the SIR exercise began in Bihar in June.

The issue has also featured in recorded objections by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The Indian Express reported that both commissioners had earlier argued that the statutory Form 6 could not be altered without amendments to the relevant rules.