CJI Surya Kant: Any modifications to Form 6 not approved by Supreme Court

In response to an argument on the "unlawful" modifications made to Form 6, the new voters have to fill, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday said that the Supreme Court hadn't approved "any" of the modifications to Form 6 and indicated to examine who had modified upon receiving a report from the Election Commission.

The statement came when a three-judge bench headed by the CJI was hearing the petitions filed against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

For the first time, the Election Commission's online version of the electors' registration form, known as Form 6, included a new section that seeks the status of the applicant's parents vis-à-vis the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even though the statutory form itself has not been amended.

The Election Commission, however, removed the SIR declaration added to the statutory voter enrolment form, Form 6, from its ECINET application portal in states where the SIR has concluded. The poll body had on September 26 announced that 'for non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used'.

Referring to the Express report, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy argued, "Let me give you an illustration.. since it pertains to most recently, for instance, Delhi. Let us see how the SIR was conducted in Delhi. Form 6 has two new conditions added. Those Forms 6 were circulated. Neither the petitioner is now allowed to be on the roll. I got a notice also... based on this new Form 6, which cannot, under the schedule, be modified."

Responding to Guruswamy, the CJI said, "Let's be very clear. Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us... Let us also be clear that when the report will be produced, we will like to see who has modified what."

Guruswamy was arguing a petition filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, which stated, "Defying this binding majority, respondent number 3 (Gyanesh Kumar), acting in concert with respondent number 6 (DG-IT), altered Form 6 digitally on the ECINet portal in July 2026. On August 13, 2026, Commissioner Sandhu formally recorded that this alteration was "unauthorised and illegal" and was causing arbitrary harassment to young, eligible first-time electors, ordering its immediate withdrawal. Despite this, the unauthorised form was kept live on the portal."

The plea argues there was a unilateral and illegal alteration of statutory Form 6 for first-time young voters without "legislative authority or amendment of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960" which could be termed "unauthorised and illegal" by a majority of the Commission.

The petition further alleged that the act of the Chief Election Commissioner of "deliberately manipulating the electoral roll bears no reasonable nexus or legal connection to his official duties". "Such an act falls squarely outside the ambit of official immunity and constitutes distinct, personal criminal liability," it added.