New Delhi: After facing severe criticism over bulk Form 7s being filed, the Election Commissioner of India (ECI) on Friday (October 9) limited the number of applications that can be submitted by an individual to 10 applications, reported Indian Express.Form 7 is meant for people to file claims and objections to the inclusion or exclusion – their own or that of others – to the electoral roll after the draft roll has been prepared.The ECI has faced growing criticism over not being able to check the number of Form 7s being filed, and for failing to reveal the source of these filings.“… instances have been brought to the notice of the Commission of filing of Form 7 objections in bulk by individual electors on unsubstantiated grounds, resulting in avoidable inconvenience to the elector objected upon and increased workload on field-level functionaries,” said the ECI in its letter to Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories on Friday.“Although the number of applications to be filed online by an individual elector has been fixed as 6 at a time subject to disposal, the number of physical forms presented in bulk has not been defined and has been left to the judgement of the EROs, which is creating challenges for the field functionaries. Accordingly, the Commission with the intent to discourage bulk filing of objections by an individual elector has decided to prescribe… [limits] on filing of Form 7 applications in both online and offline mode,” added the ECI letter.The Form 7 issue surfaced most recently in Delhi, where an analysis of records found that some Booth Level Agents (BLAs) had been able to submit more than the prescribed 10 objections a day. Since the ECINET software did not recognise that these applications were being filed BLAs, they could exceed the 10-a-day limit for Form 7s.Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had alleged that pre-printed Form 7 applications to seek deletion of voters were given to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Thereafter, an FIR was registered against BJP workers in the state in connection with the same, reported Indian Express.“It may also be ensured that in case the ERO finds that the complaint is false / fabricated, he shall proceed to take action against the applicant who has knowingly made a false statement or declaration in writing in the Form 7 as per the provisions of Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The Chief Electoral Officers are requested to bring the above to the notice of all concerned EROs / AEROs and other field-level functionaries for necessary compliance and also sufficient publicity be given to these instructions,” the ECI said in its letter on Friday.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.