सभी SIR आदेश एकमत, फॉर्म 6 में बदलाव सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा मान्य: निर्वाचन आयोग

All SIR decisions unanimous, changes in Form 6 upheld by Supreme Court: Election Commission

EC said the letters sent by commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary pertained to an officer on deputation, rather than policy or IT division matters

The Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all SIR orders received unanimous consent from all three Commissioners and that the updates to Form 6 for voter enrolment were upheld by the Supreme Court, as it sought to address issues at the centre of a raging row over decision-making in the poll panel and concerns of voters who have been issued notices or are left out from the rolls.

After its first meeting following reports claiming differences between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners, the EC said the letters sent by commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary pertained to an officer on deputation, rather than policy or IT division matters.

The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after issuance of a work allocation order within the poll body that “threatened to concentrate the powers” at EC centrally to add or delete names and update records in the voters’ list rather than allowing officials at the state level.

In a statement on Saturday, the Election Commission (EC) clarified that the work redistribution orders issued by the officer concerned were never implemented following directions from the two commissioners.

EC also announced a slew of decisions for the ease of voters who have been issued notices, including doorstep collection of documents and extending deadlines in Delhi and Maharashtra.

The newspaper report had claimed that Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation. The objections covered changes to the statutory voter registration Form 6, the handling of additions and deletions from electoral rolls, and centralised control over the electoral roll database.

The EC statement said all directions issued by the commissioners to the officers of the commission shall be meticulously complied with.

Approval of the commission will be taken for foreign trips of the officers, it said.

For all commission meetings, the agenda will be circulated in advance and minutes will be issued and Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of all the officers will be completed within the stipulated time frame, i.e., December 31 every year, said the EC statement issued after the meeting on Saturday attended by the CEC and the other two commissioners and with the approval of all three.

The Deputy Election Commissioner’s oversight of the IT division was never withdrawn, it said.

A committee headed by a senior Deputy Election Commissioner (DEC) and including an independent expert from IIT/IIIT will review ECINET to double-check that it complies with the provisions of the Acts and Rules and submit a report to the commission.

Henceforth, the commission said, all new initiatives about IT modules and portals will be discussed in Committee of Officers (COO) before approval by the commission.

It is the second EC statement after The Indian Express report sparked an uproar with the opposition demanding CEC Kumar’s sacking and the scrapping of SIR.

Three BJP allies — LJP (Ram Vilas), TDP and RLM — have also sought a clearer explanation from EC.

EC said that in recent months, it has taken numerous decisions, including SIR across the country. The order for SIR issued on June 24, 2025, for all states/UTs, starting with Bihar, followed by West Bengal and 30 other states/UTs, was issued with the unanimous approval of the commission.

The same has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India in its order dated May 27, 2026, it said.

The schedule for SIR for 12 states and UTs was issued on October 27, 2025, and those for 19 states/ UTs was issued on May 14, 2026, with the unanimous approval of EC.

The final figure for the number of electors will be known only after final publication in the remaining 12 states of Phase-III.

“The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. For the non-SIR period, the forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used,” the statement said.

EC also said that all directions issued by commissioners to officers of the poll body will be meticulously complied with.

The poll body had issued its first statement on the matter on the day the newspaper reported the issues within EC.

The poll panel also said that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Goa has directed concerned BLOs to conduct house-to-house visits to the left-out voters to collect their forms.

As many as 81 voters out of 97 have already filled Form 6 for inclusion, it said.

EC also said that people issued notices in SIR need not go for personal hearing except in exceptional cases.

The Election Commission has said that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and asserted that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.

EC said that in the case of any person to whom notice has been issued during the ongoing SIR for being unmapped and logical discrepancies, the BLOs will visit the homes of such persons for collection of documents and thereafter upload them on the ECINET, for decision by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).

“Such persons need not be called for hearing to the ERO/AERO office. Only in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the ERO, the hearing will be held preferably online.

“Any adult member of the family can be authorised by the elector to attend the hearing on their behalf, if required,” it said, adding that facilities for the online hearing are to be strengthened.

The District Election Officers (DEOs) will create an adequate number of help desks/hold special camps for the people living in night shelters, labourers, poor people, homeless etc. as per requirement.

The commission said the SIR has already been completed in 20 states/UTs, including Bihar and West Bengal and any person whose name has got left out during SIR or thereafter, and any person, including young/ first-time voter, may apply to the concerned ERO for inclusion of their name in the electoral rolls under the process of continuous updating.

“The CEOs have been directed to facilitate the same. The CEOs, DEOs, EROs will immediately launch a special drive for enrolment of these electors,” it said.

Also, in view of the request received from CEO Delhi, the period for filing claims and objections has been extended by the commission till October 30, the statement said.

The period of disposal of notices and claims and objections has been extended till November 30.

Also, as per the request received from CEO Maharashtra, the period for filing claims and objections in Maharashtra has been extended by the commission till October 12. The period of disposal of notices and claims and objections in Maharashtra has been extended till November 10.

Various upgradations of the ECINET portal have already been made based on the inputs from state CEOs in the past few months, it said. The poll body said in case any further flexibility is required by the field officers, it will be made operational.

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