The Delhi High Court on October 14 told petitioners missing from the SIR draft to fill Form 6 for voter registration. The court said, "petitioner's apprehension that he would be accused of furnishing a false declaration is misplaced." Applicants can now use this form to get included in the rolls.

A petition by a lawyer and his kin, who missed filling up the enumeration forms during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, to get included in voter rolls without registering as fresh voters was recently turned down by the Delhi High Court. The petitioners who have not appeared on the SIR draft, the court underlined, can fill Form 6, and register as fresh voters.

The petitioners told the High Court that they could not fill the enumeration forms as per the SIR timeline as they had shifted from the old residence, and subsequently, their names got deleted from the electoral rolls for the Capital.

Datta, arguing the case in person, had raised an apprehension that if they furnish a Form 6, it would be a false declaration, as Form 6 -- the statutory form meant for fresh registration of first-time voters -- - seeks a declaration from the applicant that they have never voted before while they had voted earlier.

However, ECI's counsel Sanjay Vashishtha, on the other hand, argued that so far as Form 6 is concerned, it is with regard to the new roll being prepared for the ongoing SIR process, which effectively means an applicant is a first time voter for the new roll being prepared, and that Form 8 is only for rectification once a voter has been included in the roll or for rectifying details of an existing voter on the roll preceding the SIR exercise.

On behalf of the poll body, Vashishtha also submitted that the petitioners' grievances can be redressed by furnishing Form 6.

A bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Aditi Choudhary on October 14 opined that "when the suggestion is coming from the learned standing counsel appearing for ECI, that too as per the instructions of the Electoral Registration Officer, petitioner's apprehension that he would be accused of furnishing a false declaration is misplaced."

Disposing of the plea, the bench kept it open for the petitioners so that they may fill Form 6, which shall be processed as per law.