The Election Commission of India (ECI) has informed the Supreme Court that all decisions concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken unanimously by its three members, rejecting allegations that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted unilaterally despite objections from the other two Election Commissioners.
In a counter-affidavit filed in response to a petition questioning the functioning of the Chief Election Commissioner and the decision-making process within the poll body, the ECI maintained that the statutory Form 6 used for voter registration had not been amended through its SIR-related orders.
The affidavit was filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu on behalf of the Commission, CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. It states that the three principal orders concerning the SIR, issued on June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026, reflected unanimous decisions of the Commission.
The response comes amid allegations, based on media reports, that 14 decisions relating to the electoral roll revision were taken in the name of the ECI despite objections recorded by Sandhu and Joshi. The Commission has disputed this account, contending that the petition rests entirely on a newspaper report and that the petitioner did not independently verify the allegations with the authorities concerned.
The ECI has also denied authorising the disclosure of any internal file or note to the media. It argued that observations, queries and suggestions recorded by individual members while a file is under consideration cannot, by themselves, be treated as formal decisions of the Commission.
Explaining its decision-making procedure, the poll body said files ordinarily move from one Election Commissioner to the other before being placed before the CEC. In urgent matters, approvals may be obtained electronically and subsequently recorded in the relevant file.
The Commission relied on Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which provides for decisions by unanimity, as far as practicable, and by majority where unanimity is not achieved.
On the controversy surrounding Form 6, which is used by individuals seeking inclusion in electoral rolls, the ECI asserted that it had not altered the statutory form. It maintained that the power to amend the prescribed form under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, rests with the Central Government.
According to the Commission, the declaration introduced during the SIR exercise is a separate document intended to help establish a link between an applicant and earlier electoral rolls. Applicants may provide details of their own entries, or those of their parents or grandparents, in previous intensive revisions to facilitate this verification.
The issue arose after reports suggested that two Election Commissioners had objected to changes requiring applicants to furnish such information, raising questions over the authority under which the requirements were introduced.
The ECI, however, acknowledged that the way the declaration appeared on its online application platform could create the impression that Form 6 itself had been amended. It said the online process had therefore been divided into two distinct components—Form 6 and the SIR declaration—from October 21, 2026, bringing it in line with the procedure followed for physical applications.
The Commission maintained that the separate declaration was intended to facilitate the mapping of applicants with previous electoral rolls and did not constitute a modification of the statutory form.
Addressing concerns over the treatment of voters whose details could not be linked to earlier electoral rolls, the ECI said such individuals would not ordinarily be required to appear personally before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).
Instead, Booth Level Officers would collect the requisite documents from their homes and upload them to the ECINet platform for consideration by the competent ERO. Hearings would be necessary only in exceptional circumstances and should preferably be conducted online, the Commission said.
The ECI also clarified that entries could not be added to, deleted from or modified in electoral rolls on the ECINet platform without an order from
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