New Delhi: The Supreme Court registry has found 14 deficiencies in a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petition cannot be listed for hearing until these issues are corrected.
The objections are procedural and concern missing documents or filing errors. The registry has not made any comment on the allegations raised by the Opposition leaders or on the legality of the SIR exercise.
Documents Found Lacking
The registry has pointed to a shortfall of Rs 220 in the court fee. It has also sought a clear copy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity card.
Missing or unsigned vakalatnamas have been flagged for petitioners numbered 3 to 11. These are Saugata Roy, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Sanjay Raut, MA Baby, D Raja, Mahua Majhi, Supriya Sule and ET Mohammed Basheer. A vakalatnama authorises a lawyer to represent a petitioner in court.
The registry has also asked for clearer copies of supporting documents, including digital records related to the Election Commission’s June 24, 2025, decision to begin the SIR and other material on voter deletions. It has sought an explanation for naming individual Election Commissioners as private respondents in the petition, as reported by India Today.
What The Plea Seeks
The petition was filed on Monday by Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and 10 other leaders. The Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi are among the respondents.
The petitioners want an independent committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, to audit deletions and changes made to electoral rolls within a fixed period. They have also sought a temporary stay on the SIR exercise until the court examines the matter.
The plea seeks safeguards to ensure that no voter is removed without prior notice and a fair opportunity to be heard. It also seeks permission for eligible voters in Punjab and other poll-bound states to apply for inclusion until the legal deadline.
Records Demanded
The petitioners have sought booth-wise details of deleted voters, the reasons for their removal, and a gender- and age-wise breakdown. They have also sought a system to restore eligible voters wrongly deleted from the rolls.
The plea seeks Election Commission files, agendas, minutes, internal notes and access logs from the ECINET and ERONET systems relating to the SIR decision. It also seeks action against officials found responsible for violations.
Punjab Figures Cited
The petition cites Punjab to highlight the urgency of the issue. It says the draft electoral roll published on August 13, 2026, showed a fall of nearly 20.66 lakh names from an electorate of about 2.14 crore in June that year.
The petitioners argue that the alleged irregularities affect electoral integrity and the right of eligible citizens to register and vote.
The petition was filed after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined a meeting request from Gandhi and Kharge on Sunday. The leaders had sought to submit a memorandum raising concerns about the Chief Election Commissioner, alleged arrests of students, Metro station closures and train cancellations.
