SC: Order to clear Form 6 anomaly will come October 28

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday assured voters complaining of irregular deletion from the Delhi electoral roll during SIR that on Oct 28 it will take care of their predicament caused by being asked to fill Form 6, which required a declaration that they are seeking inclusion in the voter lists for the first time.When advocate Prashant Bhushan sought urgent hearing on a petition to this effect by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, "We are thinking of passing an order that will take care of it (the anomaly)."Deleted voters can’t claim to be first-timers’The bench proposed listing of Bhardwaj’s application for hearing on Oct 30. Bhushan said that it needs to be heard earlier given that EC has set Oct 30 as the last date for correcting the discrepancy in the draft voter list.

SC agreed to hear the application on Oct 28.Draft electoral roll of Delhi, published on Aug 31, noted that of the 1,45,10,299 voters who were on the rolls before SIR began, 97,53,577 have submitted enumeration forms, while 47,56,722 were excluded from the draft roll under absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) categories. EC had extended the time for filing claims and objections from Sep 30 to Oct 30.

Bhardwaj said the only mechanism prescribed for the “irregularly” deleted voters to re-enter their names in electoral roll is by filling Form 6, which makes it mandatory for the applicant to make a declaration that he/she is seeking inclusion in the voter list for the first time, which will be factually incorrect.

Of the 47.56 lakh excluded, nearly 32 lakh are categorised as permanently shifted. Bhushan suggested that EC could be directed to allow those seeking reentering of names in voter lists to apply using Form 8 or use another appropriate mechanism to restore/include names of existing electors that do not figure in the draft rolls.