NEW DELHI: The leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) in the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas, on Monday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar challenging the “legality” of the mandatory declaration on the inclusion of parents or grandparents in the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the online Form 6.
The online form does not allow submission of Form 6 without completing this section, even though it is not marked as mandatory, Brittas claimed.
He pointed out that the Election Commission (EC) had effectively altered the statutory Form 6 without any amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, or any corresponding notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice in the Official Gazette.
Seeking the immediate withdrawal of the provision, he said a statutory form, being part of subordinate legislation, cannot be amended through administrative instructions or software modifications.
“Form 6 is not an administrative document that can be modified at executive discretion. It is a statutory form prescribed under Rules 13(1) and 26 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, framed by the Central Government in exercise of powers conferred under Section 28 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Once a form is prescribed by statutory rules, it becomes an integral part of subordinate legislation,” his letter read.
The “illegality” assumes even greater significance because it directly affects the exercise of democratic rights, Brittas added.
“Article 326 of the Constitution guarantees elections on the basis of adult suffrage, subject only to such qualifications and disqualifications as are authorised by law. Every additional mandatory condition imposed upon an applicant for electoral registration must therefore possess a clear statutory foundation. In the present case, no such authority appears to exist,” he wrote.
The CPM leader further said that the requirement of a declaration pertaining to the parents’ inclusion creates an “unjust” burden on millions of first-time voters, migrants, adopted children, orphans and countless citizens who may have no access to decades-old electoral records of their parents or grandparents.
“I earnestly urge the Election Commission to immediately withdraw the mandatory declaration incorporated into the online Form 6 through the ECINET portal. Should the Commission consider such a declaration necessary in public interest, the proper constitutional course is to recommend amendment of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, through the competent authority in accordance with Section 28 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, following the procedure prescribed by law,” Brittas stated in the letter.
He further asked the Commission to ensure that no online application for inclusion in the electoral roll is rejected, kept pending or treated as incomplete solely on account of the absence of the declaration.