The Election Commission of India on Monday told the Bombay High Court that a deleted voter filing Form 6 for re-inclusion into the voter list during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise would not amount to filing a false declaration.
The Salgaonkars submitted Form 8, which is used for address changes or correcting entries in the existing voter roll, on December 2, 2025, two days before the initial deadline of the enumeration phase. Their names were also missing in the final roll that came out on February 21. Referring to the case of Paresh Salgaonkar, the Election Commission argued that it was not possible for them to have accepted his Form 8 since “his name was already deleted from the draft roll. Form 8 cannot be submitted independently when your name is not on the draft roll,” he said. The HC also said that since Salgaonkar was changing his address but staying as a voter in his own constituency, filing Form 6 would amount to submitting a false declaration. Form 6 is used registering a new voter.
The Bombay High Court was hearing a petition filed by Santa Cruz resident Paresh Salgaonkar, who, along with six family members, was removed from the draft electoral roll for changing their address within the same constituency prior to the enumeration phase. The court questioned whether the procedure adopted by the Election Commission for this was in consonance with the Representation of the People’s Act and its provisions for revision exercises. “If citizens are excluded what will we do with your SIR? “If you have not submitted the enumeration form, the name gets deleted from the draft roll. If his name is not there in the draft roll.
If citizens are being removed from the list then what is the purpose of this entire SIR process then?” the bench comprising of justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar, said.
