SC Registry Points Out 10 Defects in Rahul Gandhi's Plea in SIR Case
The plea has also sought an independent audit of voter roll deletions
Synopsis
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and others filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday evening alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The co-petitioners include Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut, CPI's D Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Majhi, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader ET Mohammed Basheer.
The plea was filed through Advocate Prasanna S, against the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, and Vivek Joshi.
The Petition
As per sources, the petitioners urged the top court to direct the ECI to place on record the complete files, agendas, minutes, notings and objections recorded by the Election Commissioners in respect of each of the disputed decisions relating to the SIR of electoral rolls, together with the relevant ECINET and ERONET access logs.
It also contended that the complete file recording the decision dated 24 June 2025 to commence the SIR in enforcement of the rights under Article 14, 19, and 21 read with Article 324 of the Constitution should be placed on record.
The plea sought a direction to examine whether the disputed decisions relating to the SIR were taken in compliance with Article 324 of the Constitution, Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, and the law declared by this Hon’ble Court in T.N. Seshan v. Union of India (1995), and, upon finding any decision to have been taken without lawful authority, quash and/or set aside such decision.
The petitioners also sought a direction to the poll panel, pending adjudication of the present petition and the connected matters, to ensure that every decision of the ECI relating to the SIR is taken and duly minuted in accordance with Section 18 of the 2023 Act.
"Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing Respondent No. 1 (ECI) to ensure that the online Form 6 conforms to the form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, unless and until the said Rules are lawfully amended in accordance with the applicable procedure," it said.
"Constitute an independent committee headed by a retired Judge of this Court and assisted by technical experts and other citizens of eminence, to conduct, within a fixed time, an independent audit of the deletions and modifications made during the SIR and of access to, and alterations made in, the electoral-roll databases, including ECINET and ERONET; and further direct the said committee to undertake a thorough review of the decisions, policies, procedures, protocols, technical designs and architecture relating to the use and deployment of Electronic Voting Machines, with reference to global best practices and in furtherance of the imperatives of free and fair elections," it added.
The plea sought a direction to publish, booth-wise, the names of all electors deleted during the SIR, along with the reasons for each deletion and a breakdown of deletions by gender and age, and to provide an effective and functional mechanism for restoring the names of electors found eligible for inclusion in the electoral rolls.
Further, the petition urged the court to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing the Respondents to ensure that no elector is deleted from the electoral roll without notice and a reasonable opportunity of hearing in accordance with law, and to ensure that eligible persons in Punjab and other States going to the polls are permitted to seek inclusion in the electoral rolls until the last date permitted by law.
The Opposition leaders sought an interim direction suspending the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls across the States of the Union, pending consideration and adjudication of the issues raised in the present Petition, in the interests of protecting the rights of eligible electors and preserving the integrity of the electoral process.
The INDIA bloc leaders said they filed the plea seeking the intervention of the apex court in relation to the alleged unilateral and arbitrary exercise of the collective powers of the ECI by the CEC during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls; the consequent concerns regarding the integrity of the electoral process; and the infringement of the constitutional right of eligible citizens to be registered as voters and to exercise their right to vote.
The Petition also raised concerns regarding the modification of the online Form 6 available on ECINET in July 2026 by the addition of a declaration concerning the presence of the applicant or their relatives in an earlier SIR electoral roll. The petitioners also sought examination of the manner in which the ECINET and ERONET electoral-roll databases are designed, configured and operated.
SC Registry Points Out 10 Defects in Rahul Gandhi's Plea in SIR Case
According to a source familiar with the development, the apex court’s registry on Monday flagged more than 10 defects in the petition filed by Opposition leaders.
The source added that the registry asked the filing lawyer to submit a clear copy of the ID card for the Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is one of the petitioners in the case.
It is learnt that the registry pointed out a shortfall of over Rs 200 in court fee and also flagged certain illegible or missing pages in the petition. Also, the vakalatnamas for nine of the 11 petitioners are missing.
It appears that the plea by INDIA bloc leaders will not be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. This plea was expected to be considered alongside pending petitions concerning the protests in Delhi demanding the CEC's resignation.
The petitioners' legal team requested that the matter be listed on Wednesday after the defects are cured.
The objections of the registry are likely to delay the Opposition leaders’ plea seeking an independent, time-bound inquiry into decisions allegedly taken unilaterally by the Chief Election Commissioner and suspension of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls pending the inquiry.
Plea Registered on Tuesday
Later, on Tuesday, October 15, 2026, as per the Supreme Court of India, "the case filed by you with Diary No. 64196/2026 - RAHUL GANDHI VS ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA is successfully registered with registration no. W.P.(C) No. 001351/2026."