Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi took to X on Friday to charge the Election Commission with "abetting a crime" by incorporating a declaration into Form 6 that obliges voters deleted from electoral rolls to submit a new application. He said the move contravened the purpose of Form 6, which is only for new voters, and that it exposed the EC to criminal liability.
The declaration—added after the EC’s September 26 meeting—requires applicants to prove their identity or that of an ancestor was on a prior roll, a stipulation that the Commission insisted was only for the intensive revision period. Quraishi blasted the change as an illicit step that would see innocent citizens be forced to lodge new applications, a process he warned could carry a one‑year prison sentence.
In response, the Lawyers Association for Constitution (LAFC) set up a five‑member independent panel of former judges to probe the SIR. Led by former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, the group also includes A K Patnaik, Badar Durrez Ahmad, Rekha Sharma and Anjana Prakash. The panel will examine the constitutional and statutory validity of the SIR and its impact on eligible voters.
The commission plans to travel across the country, holding public hearings that will gather testimonies from affected citizens, civil society groups and legal experts. One resident of Kanpur, 45‑year‑old Vikas Kumar, said he had to re‑apply for his voter card after being removed during a prior revision, a process he described as "frustrating and humiliating".
The Election Commission maintains that Form 6 itself was not altered and that the declaration was an SIR‑specific requirement upheld by the Supreme Court in a Bihar judgment. However, the panel’s forthcoming hearings will determine whether the move stands up to legal scrutiny and whether the EC’s conduct can be deemed criminal.