Supreme Court Addresses Maharashtra Voter Deletions and Form 6 Prosecution Concerns

The SIR and Form 6 Controversy:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) launched its first nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) since the 2002 to 2004 drive to purge duplicate and migrated entries. Following a June 2025 Bihar phase that cut 47 lakh names, Maharashtra began its drive in June 2026. Officials linked current voters to legacy 2002 rolls via self or progeny mapping to verify pre-1987 citizenship cutoffs.

However, rapid urbanisation and over thousands of housing redevelopment projects across Mumbai and Pune displaced millions into transit camps. Booth Level Officers marked absent residents as shifted, while marriage surname changes triggered automated logical discrepancies.

Nearly 3 crore voters (33% statewide and 40% in Mumbai) were dropped from draft rolls.

To re-enrol, deleted voters had to file Form 6, meant strictly for first-time applicants. In October 2026, Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer warned the ECI that Form 6 forces previously registered voters to make a false declaration, risking jail under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

1. A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant stated on October 26, 2026, that voters will not face prosecution for using Form 6 to re-register on electoral rolls.

2. On October 26, 2026, the Supreme Court announced it could grant extra time for eligible voters to submit documentation if they remain excluded from the final electoral list. The court scheduled the publication of that final list for November 6, 2026.

3. On October 19, 2026, the Delhi High Court ruled that a voter's fear of false declaration charges was misplaced. Voters use Form 6 to restore their names. The court noted the Election Commission explicitly directed the use of that form for such cases.

4. The Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to submit a formal response to the public interest litigation.

1. Senior advocate Aravind Datar alleged on October 26, 2026, that approximately 33% of voters in Maharashtra and 40% of voters in Mumbai have been deleted from the draft electoral roll. The petitioner claims that nearly three crore of Maharashtra's approximately nine crore voters were removed after the draft rolls were published. Times of India reported Datar citing two crore voters excluded from the draft roll, including 1.22 crore for logical discrepancy.

2. Senior Advocate Aravind Datar stated that 3,500 redevelopment projects in Mumbai and 1,500 in Pune caused officials to mark residents as absent.

3. Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi stated that Form 6 is intended only for new voters. Quraishi argued that requiring deleted voters to use this form constitutes a criminal offense. This position contradicts the Election Commission's directive.

4. On October 26, 2026, the Supreme Court refused to issue an interim order extending the deadline for filing claims and objections. The court also declined to stop the Election Commission from publishing the final electoral roll on November 6, 2026.