Senior Legal Journalist with @barandbench (Supreme Court of India) Previously with ThePrint & CNN News18. (Former IP Lawyer) For leads: debayan@barandbench.com
नई दिल्ली, भारत
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Delhi SIR: Why is ECI forcing excluded voters to submit Form 6 as first-time voters? Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
barandbench.com/news/delhi-s…
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CJI: If a person was a voter in Delhi during the previous election but is now enrolled in Chandigarh or Lucknow, his name can be deleted because he is a voter elsewhere. But what happens to a person who is not enrolled anywhere else and also loses his name in Delhi? Where will he go?
Sr Adv Dama Seshadri Naidu (ECI): There is no deletion as such at the draft-roll stage .. Let us take May 2026 as the date when Delhi's electoral roll was last updated. Electoral rolls are continuously updated. Anyone who turns 18 or shifts residence can apply for inclusion.
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Important observations by the Supreme Court Bench:
Form 6 is for first-time voters: Those already on the 2026 roll who merely shifted should be allowed to use Form 8, not be made to declare they were never enrolled
Temporary absence is not a shift of residence: Being away on work for a month or two does not make an elector "permanently shifted."
Missed the form, lost the vote?: Justice Bagchi asked whether a voter who failed to return the enumeration form forfeits his right forever, calling it "a structural incongruity which needs to be addressed."
A residual category is missing: The ECI's procedure has no remedy for electors who never shifted but were never served the form.
Accept late enumeration forms: Until the final roll is prepared, there is no reason to reject a form just because the deadline passed.
No rush on deadlines: With no Delhi election imminent, the CJI asked why the ECI should insist on a cutoff date.
Reach out, don't wait: Given Delhi's large floating population of labourers, hawkers and daily wagers, the burden should not fall entirely on them to approach the ECI.
Publish the lists: Excluded names must be easily accessible, in simple Hindi and local languages, explaining the consequences of not responding.
Bihar did not settle everything: Justice Bagchi said the Bihar orders were not a final ruling on every SIR question, and the legality of the "logical discrepancy" exercise remains open.
Reopening 2003 entries: The Bench questioned how the ECI can reopen names already in the 2003 reference roll through an omnibus exercise.
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Ambani, Adani-linked media groups among petitioners challenging data protection law in Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy @_arnaC_
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Debayan Roy retweeted
Supreme Court seeks Centre's response on pleas challenging compulsory singing of full version of Vande Mataram
report by @DebayonRoy
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Supreme Court pulls up Centre over rising acid attacks; says guidelines to curb sales have failed
report by @DebayonRoy
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AP municipal polls: Supreme Court moots broad guidelines but says can't order roving inquiry into YSRCP's allegations
report by @DebayonRoy
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Supreme Court says it cannot become forum for homebuyers of every troubled housing project
report by @DebayonRoy
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Digital arrest scamsters must be dealt with ruthlessly: Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
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[BREAKING] We are yet to decide on validity of logical discrepancy in SIR: Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
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Delhi SIR: Supreme Court tells ECI that electors already on the 2026 roll cannot be made to apply as new voters under Form 6
Key observations from the Bench 👇
Read our live thread of the hearing:
x.com/barandbench/status/211…
#DelhiSIR @ECISVEEP
Supreme Court will hear a petition alleging a lack of transparency in notices issued to voters by election authorities in Delhi
The plea alleges that the Election Commission of India and the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer failed to adequately disclose the names of voters served notices and the specific reasons for issuing them.
#DelhiSIR @ECISVEEP
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Debayan Roy retweeted
ECI has accepted Form 6 tampering, now justifying it: TMC MP Dola Sen to Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
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🔹 Its own annexed 1996 order gives the CEC alone only casual leave of DECs and CEOs, CEO training and station leave, and spending above Rs 50,000
🔹 Postings of officers of Under Secretary rank and above lie with "EC," not "CEC"
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🔹 The order says that in all other cases, "decisions will be taken by Election Commission"
🔹 Under Section 18(1) of the 2023 Act, allocation of business among the CEC and ECs needs a "unanimous decision"
#ElectionCommission #SupremeCourt
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Debayan Roy retweeted
Should farmers starve? Sharp exchange in Supreme Court between lawyers over land acquisition for Ayodhya development
report by @DebayonRoy
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Debayan Roy retweeted
West Bengal SIR appeals against voter inclusions filed by State CEO's office: ECI to Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
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[BREAKING] No change to Form 6; members' approval obtained electronically in urgent matters: ECI to Supreme Court
report by @DebayonRoy
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Writ petition is rejected. However, there are certain direction. All the material to be furnished to her: Justice Prasad.
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[BREAKING] Supreme Court stays probe against Pinarayi Vijayan for a week in CMRL case; asks HC to hear his appeal
report by @DebayonRoy
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