New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Election Commission and others on a plea filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several other opposition leaders over alleged large-scale voter deletions and SIR irregularities.
The court also issued notice to Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and others on a plea against their march to the apex court over alleged SIR irregularities, while observing that nobody can browbeat the judiciary.
Taking up the plea filed by the opposition leaders, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the poll panel, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The court had also raised concerns about the conduct of one of the 13 petitioners challenging the manner in which the ECI is conducting the SIR.
“We are issuing notice… Tagging with pending cases. But we would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct,” the bench said as it issued notices to Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others on a separate plea challenging their march to the Supreme Court.
During the hearing, some lawyers referred to the Congress leader’s march to the apex court, to which the bench obsereved: “Nobody can browbeat judiciary. We are not sitting in ivory towers.”
“We would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct on the next date of hearing,” the CJI said while issuing the notice.
The petition, filed on October 12 by Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders, challenges the ECI’s decisions relating to the SIR of electoral rolls. The SC also issued notices to the Centre and others on various pleas related to the ECI filed by leaders including Asaduddin Owaisi.
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 the 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 reliefs sought, the petition asks the court to ensure that no elector is deleted without notice and a reasonable opportunity of hearing. It also seeks the publication of booth-wise lists of deleted electors, along with the reasons for deletion and demographic details.
During Thursday’s hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referred to the unconditional apology tendered by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan in a contempt matter. Mehta submitted that tendering an unconditional apology did not mean that actions could not be defended, adding that it was part of the procedure.
The bench told Mehta that it was not taking cognisance of media reports that authorities had tendered unconditional apologies before the court.
The contempt case concerns the alleged violation of the Supreme Court’s direction to ensure there was no “complete prohibition” on Metro and train services in Delhi following the October 10 protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The apex court also agreed to examine a plea challenging the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.
