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The Supreme Court has once again taken a big step regarding matters related to the Indian electoral system and voter list amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled on the methods used to register names in the voter list. ‘Form 6’ To make changes without any prescribed legal procedure and Voter List Revision (SIR) Taking cognizance of the controversy related to the Election Commission, the Central Government has issued a formal notice to the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners and sought their response.
An important bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant is going to examine whether these changes made in the format of Form-6 were adopted within the ambit of law and as per the prescribed procedure. However, the court has currently rejected the petitioners’ demand for removal or suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at this initial stage.
This entire legal dispute came to light when some petitions were filed before the Supreme Court. It has been mainly alleged in these petitions that many important and policy decisions related to the SIR process have been taken without the complete consensus of the three Election Commissioners. It has been specifically raised in the petitions that the approval of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi was not taken in these changes, who have also had differences with the election body chief Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on several occasions.
During the hearing of the case, the Chief Justice raised a sharp question and asked who had approved the change in Form-6? The CJI said in clear words that the court has not given its approval to any revised Form-6 and when the official records are produced before the court, it will become clear who has made this change and under what authority. On the other hand, the Election Commission has been claiming that the new declaration included in Form 6 was added with the aim of making the voter registration process more transparent and accurate.
Justice Bagchi made it clear that the court will thoroughly review the written responses of the authorities concerned and the official files and records before deciding whether any decision is taken against the statutory framework or not. If the record proves that any decision was not taken unanimously, the court will not shy away from staying such decisions.
Form-6 is the official application form through which any eligible citizen applies to get his/her name added in the voter list of the country. In this form, everything from the applicant’s personal information to identity documents are entered. The main allegation of the petitioners is that without making any formal amendment in the ‘Voter Registration Rules, 1960’, the Election Commission has made changes in its software and added additional conditions related to SIR in Form-6, under which new applicants are being asked to provide details of their ancestors (father or grandfather). Now all eyes are on the response of the Election Commission and the next hearing of the Supreme Court.