New Delhi: The Election Commission has been facing criticism over its conduct of the special intensive revision. One of the areas inviting the most outrage is the controversial changes to the online Form 6 application, requiring applicants to map their parents’ details to the previous SIR, failing which they cannot proceed to the next step. Two Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have filed objections on this. Now, the Election Commission of India’s counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court has raised more questions than answers.While the counter affidavit has denied any amendment made to the statutory form for inclusion of new electors – the form can only be amended by parliament – it has conceded that the declaration requiring an applicant to establish a connection to the previous SIR was “entered into the online page” to generate a single one-time password or e-sign.This, in effect, leads the Election Commission to admit that the online Form 6 had indeed been changed by making the contentious declaration a part of it. The affidavit also says that the manner in which the declaration was presented online “could be construed as though an amendment” to the Form 6 had been made. While in its press note last month, the Election Commission said that the “declaration attached” to Form 6 had been upheld by the Supreme Court, now in its counter affidavit, the poll body has said that the declaration is “not part” of Form 6, is a “separate and independent document” and is only “one of the documents required to be submitted by any applicant/voter along with” Form 6.On October 5, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had said that the apex court never approved of the amended Form 6. “Modified Form 6 has not been approved by us, let us be very clear,” the CJI said. “When the record is produced, we want to see who has modified the Form 6,” he had added.On October 12, Supreme Court said that it has neither approved nor disapproved the revised Form 6.The Wire reported in July on how the Form 6, the form Indians need to fill in order to demand inclusion in the electoral rolls, quietly underwent changes during the SIR. The Election Commission first added a new declaration to be submitted along with Form 6 during the pilot SIR conducted in Bihar. Another page was added in the second round of the SIR in which the declaration form required voters to map their parents’ details in the previous SIR along with the same declaration sought in Bihar. During the present round of SIR, the Form 6 itself has been changed for online applications, requiring applicants to provide their parents’ details from the previous SIR, failing which they cannot proceed to complete the application. This change to the Form 6 itself, The Wire has reported, cannot be done without parliament’s approval. And this was the substance of Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi’s objections to the changes to Form 6, who called it “unauthorised” and “illegal”, as reported by The Indian Express last month.Affidavit denies changing Form 6 but concedes it was ‘entered into the online page’The Election Commission’s affidavit has reiterated that the Form 6 was not amended, and any changes can only be made by Parliament. However, it has conceded that the declaration was “entered” into the online page of Form 6, thereby admitting that the form itself was changed.While the Election Commission’s affidavit does not make any mention of the two Election Commissioners’ objections to the changes in the online form, it also does not admit to changing the form without parliament’s approval. It does say that the declaration was “entered” into the online page of Form 6 for “bonafide objective” of the applicants.The affidavit says:“As stated earlier that during the SIR process, in relation to submission of applications online-it was observed that since applications would require submission through OTP, instead of generation of two OTPs and two e-signs (for the Form 6 and for the Declaration separately), it would be convenient for the applicants that their application generates a single OTP and single e-sign. In this process, the Declaration was entered into the online page of Form 6 for that very purpose i.e. to generate one single OTP and e-sign.”“This bonafide objective became a subject matter of deliberation and suggestions. Thus, it has been decided vide decision dt. 21.10.2026 of the ER division that as in the case of submitting the Application in Form 6 in a physical format, the online application shall also be in two parts i.e. Form 6 as prescribed in Rules and the SIR Declaration mentioned hereinabove.”Semantics: EC press note says ‘declaration attached’, affidavit says declaration ‘not part’ of Form 6On September 26, the Election Commission in its press note following the Indian Express report on the two Election Commissioners objections, said: “The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. For non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used.”While the press note called the Declaration “attached to Form 6” in its counter affidavit the Election Commission said that it is “NOT a part of Form 6.”The affidavit says:“The Declaration Form is one of the documents required to be submitted by any applicant/voter along with Form 6 for his/her inclusion in the electoral roll, during the SIR exercise. The Declaration is a document provided by the SIR orders and is NOT a part of Form 6 which is the statutory form for inclusion in the electoral roll.”No mention of who ordered the changes in the online Form 6While saying that the declaration was “entered” into the online Form 6 page, it does not say who issued this order, or any mention of the two Election Commissioners’ objections to it, and how they were resolved.The affidavit also does not mention that the Supreme Court order upholding the constitutionality of the SIR, upheld the declaration to Form 6 in the Bihar SIR order. Since then the declaration has been changed twice, while the online Form 6, which the poll body admits in its affidavit was “entered into” the online Form 6 page was only brought in July-three months after the Supreme Court’s order.It does not also mention whether this declaration being brought onto the online Form 6 page was done in consultation with the government as the form being a statutory form can only be amended by parliament-a fact that poll body affidavit itself notes.