Eleven Opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, have moved a plea before the Supreme Court challenging large-scale voter deletions and alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The other petitioners in the matter include Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader MA Baby, Communist Party of India leader D Raja, Mahua Majhi of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Mohammed Basheer.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier sought a meeting with the CJI to hand over a representation flagging issues concerning the SIR, the functioning of the Election Commission and the Delhi police's handling of anti-SIR protests.
However, since related cases are pending before the Supreme Court, the CJI declined to meet Rahul Gandhi, adding that he is free to file a petition on the issue.
Any petition filed by the Congress leaders could also be heard along with those matters, the CJI said in a communication to Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi and ten other leaders part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc (a coalition of political parties opposing the BJP-led NDA bloc) have now filed a writ petition in the matter.
The development comes amid a spate of demonstrations in Delhi against the conduct of SIR and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The protests followed a recent report published by the Indian Express which alleged that Kumar had taken several decision regarding the SIR unilaterally, despite certain objections raised by two Election Commissioners.
Several protestors were detained over the weekend by the Delhi police, which issued prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The en masse detentions have led to the filing of several petitions before the Supreme Court, including those alleging that even lawyers and journalists were detained and prevented from carrying out their professional duties.
On October 11 (Sunday), the top court also held a special sitting to examine some of these issues. The Court proceeded to issue directions restraining the police from detaining peaceful protestors, lawyers and journalists. However, petitions were later filed alleging that the police continued carrying out illegal detentions in defiance of the Supreme Court's directives. Several such petitions, including one by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), are scheduled to be heard tomorrow.