New Delhi: The Election Commissioners of India (ECIs) – Gyanesh Kumar, Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu – announced on Saturday, September 26, that voters who received notices under unmapped and anomaly cases in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) need not appear for a hearing in person.
The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit their homes and collect the required documents to be uploaded on ECINet for consideration by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
The election commissioners held a full commission meeting at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi to quell reports of differences within them.
The meeting came days after The Indian Express reported on September 23 that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections to Gyanesh Kumar on several decisions and orders linked to the SIR, deletion and addition of names, changes to Form 6 and access to voter data. The reports triggered a wider political controversy, with Opposition parties questioning the functioning of the Commission and demanding greater transparency.
Voters need not appear before ERO and AEROs
Voters who have been declared unmapped or anomaly under the SIR exercise need not appear for hearings at Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) offices.
Hearings will be held only in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the ERO, and preferably online. An adult family member may also be authorised by the elector to attend the hearing on their behalf.
District Election Officers (DEOs) will set up help desks and hold special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, poor people, homeless persons and others requiring assistance.
On Form 6
On Form 6 used for enrolling new voters, ECI addressed concerns over a declaration introduced during the SIR process requiring applicants to establish their linkage with the previous SIR through their parents’ names.
The Commission said the declaration had been upheld by the Supreme Court. Outside the SIR exercise, it clarified, forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would continue to be used.
On ECINET
On ECINET concerns, the ECI said field officials receive role-based access in accordance with their statutory powers. It announced a review of ECINET by a committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT.
The Indian Express report had raised concerns about access to electoral-roll databases and the functioning of the portal.
SIR was a unanimous decision: ECI
The ECI maintained that the SIR issued on June 24, 2025, was unanimously approved by all three commissioners. It further noted that the Supreme Court had upheld the original SIR order.
It reiterated that its letter to the Cabinet Secretary was not related to any policy matter concerning the Commission or its IT division, but to the functioning of an officer on deputation to the ECI.
The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after issuance of a work allocation order within the poll body that “threatened to concentrate the powers” at the EC centrally to add or delete names and update records in the voters’ list rather than allowing officials at the state level.
The ECI has clarified that the work redistribution orders issued by the officer concerned were never implemented following directions from the two Commissioners.
CEO Gyanesh Kumar responded to questions surrounding 97 voters in Goa who had initially been left out of the electoral rolls. He said the Chief Electoral Officer, Goa, had directed BLOs to conduct house-to-house visits and collect the necessary forms.
Of the 97 voters, 81 had already submitted Form 6 for inclusion.
SIR deadline extended for Delhi, Maharashtra
ECI has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections under the ongoing SIR in Delhi and Maharashtra.
In Delhi, voters can file claims and objections till October 30. The period for disposal of notices and claims and objections is now November 30.
In Maharashtra, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended to October 12, while their disposal has been extended to November 10.
As part of measures to strengthen internal procedures, the EC said agendas for Commission meetings would be circulated in advance and minutes issued thereafter.
| | 
