What Is India’s Form 6 Controversy? Supreme Court Seeks Election Commission Records, Has Not Ruled on Dispute

India’s Form 6 controversy centres on an additional declaration used in the online application for new voter registration during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. On October 5, 2026, the Supreme Court said it had not approved a modified Form 6 and asked to examine Election Commission of India (ECI) records to determine what, if anything, was changed and who made the change. That request is not a final ruling that the declaration was unlawful or that any named official acted improperly.

What is Form 6 used for?

Form 6 is the application for an eligible person to have their name added to an electoral roll as a new voter. It asks for details including the applicant’s identity, date of birth and ordinary place of residence. The form is prescribed under India’s Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which is why a dispute about changes to it raises a question about legal authority, not just website design.

The SIR is a more extensive review of electoral rolls. In June 2025, the ECI ordered an SIR beginning in Bihar and introduced an additional declaration for applicants during that exercise. A later controversy focused on how SIR-related questions appeared in the online Form 6 on the ECINET portal. The Indian Express reported in July 2026 that applicants were asked whether they, their parents or their grandparents appeared on the rolls from an earlier intensive revision, and could not submit the online application without answering. The downloadable Form 6 did not contain that inserted set of questions.

Why is the additional declaration disputed?

The distinction between attaching a separate declaration and changing the prescribed Form 6 is central to the dispute. The ECI’s position is that Form 6 itself was not changed: an additional declaration was attached for the SIR. Petitioners argue that introducing questions into the online application altered what people had to complete to seek registration without a formal amendment to the rules.

The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to changes to Form 6 without an amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules. Those reported objections and the petitioners’ allegations are part of the matter the court has yet to resolve; they do not, by themselves, establish who authorised the online change.

On September 26, the ECI said the declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court. It also said forms prescribed by the rules would be used outside SIR periods. The SIR-related questions were subsequently removed from the online application in places where the revision had concluded, according to The Indian Express; they remained in places where it was ongoing.

What did the Supreme Court ask the ECI to provide?

During an October 5 hearing, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the court had not approved a modified Form 6. It sought the relevant ECI records so it could examine whether the form had been modified and identify who made any change. The court was responding to concerns raised in petitions about the conduct of the roll revision and the online registration process.

The clarification does not erase the court’s earlier decision on the Bihar SIR. On May 27, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld that revision and recognised that the ECI had some authority to devise documentation requirements suited to a special intensive revision, subject to limits. But upholding the Bihar exercise is different from specifically approving the later questions reported in the online Form 6. Whether the contested implementation was authorised and lawful remains to be examined through the records and further proceedings.

How can someone register as a voter in India?

Eligible applicants can use Form 6 through the ECI’s voter services portal or submit an application to the relevant Electoral Registration Officer. The portal provides a way to track an application’s status. Applicants should check the instructions shown for their constituency, particularly if an SIR is underway, because the additional declaration is the subject of the current dispute. Submitting Form 6 is an application for inclusion, not confirmation that a name has already been added to the electoral roll.