Many voters whose names were deleted from the post-SIR electoral rolls published on February 28 — and who did not even get a chance to be heard by a judicial officer — now have nowhere to turn.

Most of them submitted Form 6 to enroll afresh as new voters and also filed appeals with their respective district electoral officers (DEOs).

On February 28, the Election Commission published a “preliminary final” post-SIR list. The number of approved voters dropped to 6.4 crore, marking a decrease of 1.2 crore from the pre-SIR list.

Over 60 lakh names were marked as “under adjudication” and 5.46 lakh were “deleted”. There were also fresh inclusions through Form 6.

For the 60 lakh under-adjudication cases, the EC published supplementary lists approving around 32 lakh voters and deleting around 27 lakh. These 27 lakh voters are now filing appeals before tribunals headed by retired high court judges.

However, the 5.46 lakh voters deleted in the February 28 list remain in limbo.

An EC official said that Form 6 is meant only for new inclusions in the voter list.

“Voters removed from the electoral rolls before adjudication should not fill Form 6. Their names were removed following established norms. If they have to
appeal against the removal, they must do so with the concerned DEO. If the DEO upholds the deletion, they can then appeal to the chief electoral officer (CEO),” the official said.

But there are instances where voters whose names were deleted in the February 28 list have had them restored after submitting Form 6, with new EPIC numbers.

Private firm employee Raja Bagri said the names of his wife, Anita, and son, Piyush, were deleted from the rolls in the February 28 list. The residents of Dum Dum submitted Form 6 applications.

“We filled Form 6 about a fortnight ago. We submitted the forms online and later handed over hard copies at the local municipality,” said Raja. “Five or six days ago, we checked the EC website and found that my wife’s and son’s names had been added to the electoral rolls,” he said.

Both have been assigned new EPIC numbers.

Several others in the same area, however, are still awaiting clarity.

Namita Das, 74, is among those whose names were deleted.

“In the first week of March, I filled Form 6 and submitted an application to the DEO,” she said.

She later received a message stating: “Your application.... has been forwarded to ERO, ECI.”

But there has been no communication since. “I am at a complete loss. No one can tell me what I should do now. I am planning to move court once the elections are over. I am also scared about whether my bank accounts will be deactivated,” she said.

Her neighbour, Krishnapriya Dutta, 35, also submitted Form 6 and applied to the DEO.

“The form was accepted, and the BLO verified it,” she said. “If the rule says that those whose names were deleted from the February 28 list cannot submit Form 6, how did the BLO verification take place?” asked Dutta, who works at a private firm.

Her application status on the EC website reads:

• Submitted: 01-03-2026
• BLO appointed: 04-04-2026
• Field verified: 05-04-2026

“But after that, there has been no update. I don’t know whom to approach or what to do next. My parents’ names are not in the 2002 list because my father worked for the Airports Authority of India and had a transferable job,” she said. Her grandparents’ names are listed in the 2002 electoral rolls.

“I cannot approach the tribunal or the Supreme Court now. I will wait until the
elections are over and then decide my next steps,” Dutta added.