Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc leaders marched to the Supreme Court and filed a petition seeking an interim stay on the SIR of electoral rolls, an audit of deletions and action against officials.
INDIA bloc leaders marched through central Delhi to the Supreme Court on Monday and filed a joint petition seeking an interim stay on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a day after Chief Justice Surya Kant declined their request for a meeting.
"MARCH FOR DEMOCRACY" started at Constitution Club at around 1.30 pm and continued for over four hours. Some of the prominent leaders who participated in the march include Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and Tejashwi Yadav. The Congress claimed that there were 2.5 lakh people present in the march while wire agency estimates of attendance were in thousands. Around 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were present. Six metro stations of central Delhi were closed for some time while the marchers could not reach the court as they were prevented by the barricades. Delhi Police earlier in the day denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest site on the advice of the committee of the Home Ministry.
Listed as Rahul Gandhi v. Election Commission of India, the plea was filed by advocate S Prasanna before the 4.30 pm deadline, as Gandhi had not yet reached the court. Gandhi and 10 other opposition leaders are petitioners. Among its ten prayers, the petition asks the court to direct the Election Commission to produce all records behind the decision to begin the SIR on June 24, 2025, including ECINET and ERONET access logs, and to examine whether those decisions meet the requirements of Article 324 and the 2023 law governing election commissioners. It also seeks an independent audit of deletions by a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, booth-wise publication of deleted names with reasons, and a bar on deleting any voter without notice and a hearing. The central relief sought is an interim stay on the SIR across all states. The removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the opposition's main political demand, is not among the prayers as reported.
Reports say about 130 million names have been removed from rolls since last year. Opposition parties allege the exercise has disproportionately hit Muslim and other minority voters and favours the BJP. The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and says wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia called the march political theatre, while Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Congress attacks institutions after losing elections. Pressure on Kumar grew last month after The Indian Express reported that his two fellow commissioners raised at least 14 formal objections over 10 months. In an email to the Congress, the Chief Justice said the grievances are already before the court and that a petition filed on Monday would be taken up on Tuesday.
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