The Election Commission of India (ECI) has removed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related declaration from the online Form 6 used for voter registration in states and Union Territories where the electoral roll revision process has already been completed. Applicants in these regions will now only be required to fill the standard Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, while the additional declaration will continue to apply only in states where the SIR exercise is still underway.

The decision follows a meeting of the full Election Commission on September 26, attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The poll panel clarified that the additional declaration was introduced solely for the SIR process and was never intended to permanently modify Form 6. Accordingly, the declaration has now been removed from the ECINET portal, mobile app, and the Chief Electoral Officer websites in states where the revision exercise has concluded.

The issue had sparked controversy after reports emerged that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to the inclusion of the additional declaration, arguing that statutory forms cannot be altered without amending the relevant rules. While the Election Commission has maintained that Form 6 itself was never changed and that the declaration was only a temporary SIR-specific requirement, the move to withdraw it in non-SIR states is expected to address concerns over the voter enrolment process.