The declaration remains available on the ECINET portal in places where SIR is still underway. The move follows a September 26 decision by the Election Commission that the additional declaration would be required during SIR, while the statutory Form 6 would apply during the non-SIR period.
The move comes after a controversy over the addition of the SIR declaration to the online voter-registration process and questions over whether the form could be modified without changing the relevant rules.
What was the row over Form 6?
Form 6 is the statutory application used by an eligible Indian citizen to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll as a new voter. It is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The controversy began after The Indian Express reported in July that an additional SIR-related section had appeared in the online version of Form 6 on the ECINET portal.
The declaration asked applicants whether their name, or the name of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR. Depending on the response, applicants could also be asked to provide details such as the state, district, Assembly constituency, polling booth, part number and serial number.
The section was not marked as mandatory. However, The Indian Express reported that applicants could not complete the online submission without responding to it. The Form 6 document available for download from the ECI website, meanwhile, did not contain the additional declaration.
The issue became more significant after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to the inclusion of the SIR declaration in the online Form 6.
Since Form 6 is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the two commissioners argued that it could not be altered without amending the rules. According to the report, Vivek Joshi said Form 6 could not be changed unless the Central government amended the relevant rules. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu described the change as “unauthorised and illegal” and said it “must be removed immediately”.
The ECI, however, maintained that Form 6 itself had not been changed. It said the SIR declaration was an additional requirement for the revision exercise. On September 26, the poll panel also said that the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
The online portal has since listed the statutory Form 6 separately from the SIR-related “Declaration Form”. The declaration also warns that false statements could attract punishment under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, including imprisonment of up to one year, a fine or both.
What did the Supreme Court say on Bihar SIR?
The ECI ordered an SIR of Bihar’s electoral rolls on June 24, 2025. The exercise was aimed at checking voter eligibility and updating the electoral rolls.
The Bihar exercise also used a separate declaration, known as Annexure D, rather than the version later linked to the online Form 6, LiveLaw reported.
In its May 27, 2026 judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the ECI’s authority to conduct the Bihar SIR and considered the documentation requirements prescribed for the exercise.
The court held that Form 6 could not necessarily be applied “literally” to an SIR. It said the form was “tailored to the process of revision contemplated under Section 21(2) of the RP Act” and recognised that the ECI had “a degree of residual authority” to create a documentation framework suitable for an SIR.
The court, however, also set a limit on that power. It said, “Such authority, however, is not unbounded.” Any departure from the statutory framework, it held, must have a “rational nexus” with the objective of the SIR.
What does the change mean for voters?
In states and Union Territories where SIR has been completed, applicants seeking fresh enrolment will now use the statutory Form 6 without the additional SIR-linked declaration.
This means they will no longer have to answer the additional questions about whether they, their parents or grandparents appeared in an earlier SIR electoral roll as part of the online Form 6 application.
The additional declaration continues to be available in states where SIR is still underway.
