The Supreme Court on Wednesday raised serious questions over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi, observing that the Commission cannot modify the prescribed Forms 6, 7, and 8. During the hearing, the bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant questioned why voters who were already registered are being asked to submit Form 6, which is meant only for new voters. The court also asked why the Commission had fixed October 30 as a deadline despite no immediate Assembly election being scheduled in the national capital, and advised that no rigid cut-off date should be imposed for the re-enrolment of existing voters.

The bench said that voters whose names were already on the electoral rolls but are now missing should not be treated as new applicants. Instead, the Election Commission should create a simpler and more practical mechanism to restore their names. The judges observed that the Commission should actively reach out to affected voters rather than waiting for them to file fresh applications. During the hearing, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, argued that many voters either never received the enumeration forms or were unable to submit them due to reasons such as relocation within Delhi. He pointed out that Form 8 is meant for address changes, while Form 6 is specifically intended for first-time voter registration.

The petitions, filed by transparency activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri, claimed that Delhi had nearly 1.45 crore registered voters when the revision exercise began. According to the submissions, about 97 lakh voters submitted their enumeration forms, while forms from nearly 47 lakh people were not received. The petitioners further stated that the Election Commission has categorised around 43 lakh voters as permanently shifted or absent, including over 31.59 lakh marked as permanently shifted, around 11 lakh listed as missing or untraceable, and nearly 2 lakh recorded as deceased. The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to adopt a fair, simple, and voter-friendly approach while continuing the revision process.