The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission on a plea by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. The petition challenges the ECI's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and alleged arbitrary voter deletions.
SC Issues Notice to ECI on Opposition's Plea
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and others on a petition filed by Opposition leaders led by Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, challenging the poll panel’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged voter deletions.
The Court sought responses from the ECI, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on the plea. The Court also expressed strong objections to the conduct of one of the 13 petitioners who challenged the manner in which the ECI is conducting the SIR of electoral rolls. “We would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct on the next date of hearing,” said the CJI while issuing notice in the plea of Rahul Gandhi’s and other opposition leaders.
Details of the Petition
Earlier on October 12, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with other INDIA bloc leaders, filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the Election Commission of India (ECI). The petition filed challenges the manner in which the Election Commission has taken decisions relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The petitioners include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, among others.
The petition, registered as W.P.(C) No. 001351/2026, was filed on October 12 and registered by the Supreme Court Registry on October 13 after initial procedural defects were addressed. It seeks a judicial examination of whether these decisions were taken in accordance with Article 324 of the Constitution, the 2023 law governing the Election Commission and the Supreme Court’s ruling in T.N. Seshan vs Union of India.
Among the substantive reliefs sought, the petition asks the court to ensure that no elector is deleted without notice and a reasonable opportunity of hearing, and to direct publication, booth-wise, of deleted electors along with reasons for deletion and demographic details. (ANI)
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