Former chief election commissioner OP Rawat on Wednesday termed the reported changes to statutory voter registration Form 6 “absolutely wrong and illegal” and described differences within the Election Commission as “very serious” and “unfortunate”.
Rawat was reacting to a news report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly objected to decisions and orders issued without their knowledge.
“This is an unfortunate situation. Such a thing has perhaps rarely happened in the Election Commission. I have also been there, but I saw that decisions were always taken unanimously,” Rawat, who served as CEC from January to December 2018, told PTI Videos.
According to the report, the two commissioners recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months on issues including voter registration and deletion, changes to Form 6 and centralisation of control over the electoral roll database.
Rawat said the objections over Form 6 were particularly serious as the commissioners had maintained that the statutory form could not be altered without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
“What the election commissioners have said, that Form 6 was amended wrongly, that there is no provision for it in law, that their inputs were not taken and no meeting was held, is a very serious allegation. The way Form 6 has been amended is wrong. It is absolutely wrong and illegal,” he said.
According to the report, Joshi had recorded in May that Form 6 could not be changed through instructions issued for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), saying the “legally sustainable” course would be to send the proposal to the government for amending the rules. Sandhu had concurred.
However, a declaration linking new voter applications to the SIR was later introduced in the online Form 6. Sandhu reportedly recorded in August that the change was “unauthorised and illegal” and should be removed immediately.
Rawat also criticised the reported centralisation of control over the electoral roll database.
“If software has been designed in such a way that even if field functionaries are satisfied that a change should be made, they are helpless because the software does not permit it, then this is absolutely illegal and wrong,” he said.
“No one has the right to monopolise all powers and say that we will make the software and whatever the software says will have to be done. This has never happened and should never happen,” he said.
The former CEC said the developments could further erode public confidence in the poll body amid questions raised by political parties over the SIR.
“Through SIR (Special Intensive Revision), it has created a kind of Frankenstein which has created fear in the minds of voters everywhere. This is not good. It is very unfortunate for our democracy,” he said.
Rawat, however, also questioned why the two commissioners had remained silent for 10 months if they considered the actions improper.
“The question will also arise as to why they remained silent for 10 months. Why did they not raise it earlier? They too are functionaries of a constitutional institution. It is their responsibility not to allow even one mistake to happen,” he said.
Neither Sandhu nor Joshi has publicly commented on the reported differences.
Under Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, the EC's business is to be conducted unanimously as far as possible, while differences are to be decided by majority opinion.
EC sources, however, maintained on Wednesday that all its decisions, including those relating to the SIR, had been unanimous and approved by all three commissioners.
(With inputs from PTI)