Supreme Court to Review Election Commission Directives on Delhi Electoral Roll Omissions

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has announced it will hear concerns on November 19 regarding an Election Commission clarification that permits voters omitted from Delhi’s draft electoral rolls to seek fresh enrolment through Form 6.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, scheduled the hearing after petitioners raised objections to the procedural mechanism. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared before the court representing petitioners Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri.

The legal scrutiny centers on a communication issued by the Election Commission on November 3 to chief electoral officers. According to the poll body’s directive, voters whose names did not appear in the draft electoral roll are permitted to submit Form 6 for inclusion, regardless of their prior enrolment status. The Election Commission further clarified that submitting Form 6 under these specific circumstances would not constitute a false declaration, ensuring that no penal action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, would be initiated against applicants.

However, the petitioners argue that voters who have been left off the rolls should instead seek restoration through Form 8 or an enumeration form rather than filing for fresh enrolment via Form 6.

The underlying dispute stems from a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the national capital. According to the Election Commission, draft electoral rolls published on August 31 omitted approximately 47 lakh names from a pre-revision electorate of roughly 1.45 crore.

The petition before the apex court also sought a direction compelling the Election Commission to publicly release the specific lists of voters who were issued notices during the revision process, accompanied by detailed reasons for their omission. During proceedings, the bench directed attention toward reducing existing enumeration gaps, suggesting that authorities publish lists identifying voters who could not be contacted during earlier phases.

The matter will be taken up for further consideration by the Supreme Court on November 19.