The activists questioned changes to Form 6, alleging that an additional declaration had been introduced in its online version without the requisite authorisation. They said the Commission’s affidavit acknowledged that the online form had been altered and that certain decisions needed to be corrected because they did not align with the steps approved by the Commission.
The activists also referred to a Supreme Court hearing on 28 October concerning the SIR exercise in Delhi. They said the court had clarified that the use of logical discrepancies as a criterion was permitted as an interim measure in West Bengal, with its legal validity yet to be adjudicated.
The court had also observed that asking voters whose names had been deleted during the revision to fill out Form 6 was an error, the activists said in a statement.
They further raised the issue of around 16 lakh appeals filed against the inclusion of voters in electoral rolls in West Bengal. The activists said the ECI’s affidavit stated that the appeals had been filed by officials in the office of the state’s chief electoral officer and that the matter had not been brought to the Commission’s attention.
They alleged that the episode raised questions about who had directed the filing of the appeals, who had submitted them and whether the software had generated them automatically, and called for an inquiry.
The activists also questioned whether action had been initiated against officials who, according to their reading of the affidavit, had acted without the Commission’s approval or authority. They said the affidavit did not clarify whether disciplinary or other action had been taken against the officials concerned.
The activists called on the Commission to disclose the relevant records and provide clear answers on the authorisation, implementation and oversight of the nationwide SIR exercise.
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