New Delhi: The Supreme Court registry has flagged more than 10 defects in a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders seeking judicial intervention over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to sources, the registry asked the lawyer who filed the petition to submit a legible copy of the identity card of Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is among the co-petitioners.
The registry also flagged missing or illegible pages and pointed out a shortfall of Rs 220 in the court fee, sources said.
On Monday, Gandhi and several opposition leaders marched towards the Supreme Court to file the petition, seeking an examination of alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities during the SIR exercise.
Other petitioners include Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
The petition names the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as respondents.
What does the petition seek?
Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition seeks the Supreme Court’s intervention over what the petitioners describe as the alleged unilateral and arbitrary exercise of the Election Commission’s collective powers by the CEC during the SIR process.
It also raises concerns about the integrity of the electoral process and alleges that the exercise infringes on eligible citizens’ constitutional rights to register as voters and cast their votes.
The petitioners have also sought scrutiny of how the ECINET and ERONET electoral roll databases are designed, configured and operated.
The plea was filed following a communication from Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday in response to a written representation submitted on behalf of Gandhi and Kharge, the petition stated.
Petition cites alleged voter deletions in Punjab
The petition cited developments in Punjab to underline the urgency of the matter. It claimed that the draft electoral roll published on August 13, 2026, reportedly showed a reduction of approximately 20.66 lakh names from an electorate of around 2.14 crore recorded in June 2026.
The petitioners have sought judicial intervention over the alleged irregularities and their implications for eligible voters.
The opposition decided to approach the Supreme Court after the President of India sought evidence to substantiate allegations against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
