Neither approved nor disapproved

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it has neither approved nor disapproved the Election Commission’s revised Form 6 for voter registration.

The observation was made by a Bench including CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that was hearing a fresh writ petition filed by Priya Mishra against the ECI, relating to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It is to be noted that Form 6 is the statutory application for inclusion of name in electoral roll.

During the hearing on Monday, the counsel for the petitioner, Mishra, told the apex court that the ECI is representing revised Form 6 as having Supreme Court approval in its affidavits and press communications.

The Bench made it clear that there was no adjudication on the new Form 6 while hearing the Bihar SIR matter. CJI Kant said, “We have neither approved nor disapproved revised Form 6,” and cautioned against selectively interpreting the court’s earlier observations in the Bihar case. Even Justice Bagchi, who was part of the Bench that heard the Bihar SIR matter, clarified that revised Form 6 did not exist when the Bihar SIR matter was heard, and that the court’s observations cannot be construed as either approval or disapproval.