The Election Commission of India claimed the Supreme Court had upheld its new voter registration declaration appended to Form 6, which requires applicants to affirm they are not registered elsewhere. LiveLaw's analysis disputes this, arguing the Court merely declined to stay the form at an interim stage without examining its merits. Critics say the new declaration effectively shifts the burden of proof onto applicants and may disenfranchise genuine voters, raising questions about ECI's statutory power to add such conditions.

Form 6 is the application form for fresh voter registration under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The ECI introduced a new declaration requiring applicants to state they are not registered in any other constituency — a condition not explicitly mandated by the Representation of the People Act, 1950, or the Rules made thereunder.

The legal controversy has two layers. First, the procedural question: when the Supreme Court declines to stay a government measure at the interim stage, does that amount to judicial endorsement of its validity? Constitutional law is clear that an interim refusal to stay does not constitute an affirmation of merits — it merely means the court found no prima facie urgency to halt the measure pending hearing. ECI characterising a non-stay as an 'upholding' is therefore legally inaccurate.

Second, the substantive question: does ECI have the rule-making power to add declarations that effectively impose burdens beyond what Parliament prescribed? Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 governs registration of electors; the Rules specify what must accompany an application. If the declaration adds a new disqualification or burden not traceable to the parent statute, it may exceed delegated legislative authority — the ultra vires doctrine in administrative law.

For CLAT PG, this event sits at the intersection of electoral law, delegated legislation, and judicial review — all tested areas. The principle that an interim order declining stay does not constitute a merits ruling is especially important.