Examine the limits of the Election Commission's powers under Article 324 to prescribe documentary requirements for voter registration.

Article 324 gives the Election Commission of India (ECI) the "superintendence, direction and control" of the preparation of electoral rolls [3]. In October 2026 the Supreme Court said that the July 2026 changes to Form 6 were not approved by it [1][4]. That episode shows the limits of this power: it is wide, but statute, constitutional guarantees and due process all bound it.

Scope of the power

• Residual power: Article 324 lets the ECI act where enacted law is silent (Mohinder Singh Gill, 1978) [5].
• Verifying new entrants: A first-time applicant may be asked to give evidence of citizenship (Lal Babu Hussein, 1995) [3].
• Structured checking: In the Bihar SIR verdict (ADR v. ECI, 2026) [2], the Court used Form 6 as a guide, so that verification is not "unguided or subjective" [1].

Limits on the power

• Statutory framework: The RP Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 govern the rolls. Section 28 gives rule-making power to the Central Government [3]. Form 6 is prescribed by these Rules [1]. A PIL alleges it was changed through EC software without the statutory procedure [4].
• No override of law: Article 324 fills gaps in the law. It cannot replace provisions that already exist (Gill) [5].
• Open evidence: Lal Babu Hussein quashed an ECI directive that barred certain documents. Officers must weigh all evidence an applicant offers [3]. A new ancestry/previous-SIR linkage requirement [4] goes against this principle.
• Constitutional guarantees: These are Article 325 (one general roll per constituency) and Article 326 (adult suffrage) [3]. In the 1995 case, police-driven document demands removed most voters from the rolls in a Delhi slum colony [3].
• Natural justice: Each case needs a reasoned enquiry, a fair hearing and a speaking order [3].
• Judicial review: A judgment cannot be used as cover for administrative changes. The Court has called for records on who altered Form 6 [4].

Way forward

• Change documentary requirements only by formally amending the 1960 Rules, and publish the legal basis.
• Keep one uniform Form 6. Put SIR-specific checks in a separate SIR document.
• Use an indicative document list, with written and appealable reasons for every rejection.

Article 324 lets the ECI design verification, but it cannot be used to set requirements outside the RP Act, the Rules and the Constitution. If documentary rules are made through proper rule-making and remain open to all relevant evidence, they can protect both the purity of the roll and inclusion, the two values Articles 325–326 protect.