A joint petition submitted by prominent opposition leaders challenging decisions of the Election Commission of India is likely to be taken up for hearing in the Supreme Court tomorrow, October 15. The matter is expected to be placed before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The petitioners are seeking an immediate freeze on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alongside demanding stringent directions against the country's top poll officials.
Hearing Rescheduled Following Fourteen Procedural Defects Flagged by Registry
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and several leaders of the INDIA bloc had moved the apex court with this petition on Monday evening. Filed through the legal team of the Congress party, the matter was initially slated for consideration on Tuesday. However, the Supreme Court registry identified 14 technical defects during procedural scrutiny, prompting the deferral of the hearing until all stated discrepancies were cured.
The objections raised by the registry covered multiple procedural lapses. These included clerical errors in the names of respondents, a lack of required explanations for adding private parties as respondents, and the omission of certified copies of cited past judgments. Furthermore, proper vakalatnamas had not been placed on record for nine individuals out of the eleven petitioners, with only Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge having submitted valid authorisations initially. The scrutiny also flagged an unclear, blurred copy of Kharge's identification document, an unpaid balance of 220 rupees in court fees, and printing inconsistencies across several attached case documents. The registry noted that rectifying these compliance points was mandatory prior to formal listing.
Eleven Opposition Leaders Join Petition While Aam Aadmi Party Stays Away
The petition brings together eleven prominent opposition figures as joint petitioners. Alongside Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, the signatories include Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Sanjay Raut representing the Shiv Sena (UBT). The remaining petitioners comprise M.A. Baby of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), D. Raja of the Communist Party of India, Mahua Maji of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), and E.T. Mohammed Basheer of the Indian Union Muslim League.
Notably, no representative from the Aam Aadmi Party has been impleaded as a petitioner in this joint legal challenge. On the other side, the petition names the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as the primary respondents.
Plea Demands Immediate Halt on Special Revision and Removal of CEC
At the heart of the legal challenge lies the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for electoral registers. The petition raises strong grievances regarding large-scale omissions and irregularities, asserting that legitimate electors have been struck off the rolls during this administrative drive across regions.
Seeking urgent judicial intervention to preserve the integrity of the electoral process, the opposition leaders have prayed for an immediate interim stay on the SIR exercise. In addition to stopping the revision drive, the plea makes a formal demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his official post.
