Rahul Gandhi’s Plea Faces 14 Objections from Supreme Court

Bangla Press Desk:  The Supreme Court registry has identified 14 defects in a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 other opposition alliance leaders against India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The defects include a shortfall of 220 rupees in court fees, an unclear photocopy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity document, and missing documents authorising lawyers to represent nine of the petitioners.

As a result, the petition will not be heard on Tuesday (October 13). Lawyers representing the petitioners have requested that it be listed for a hearing on Wednesday after the defects are rectified. Hindustan Times reported these details.

The petition seeks an independent investigation with a specific time frame into allegations that the chief election commissioner has been making unilateral decisions. It also asks the court to suspend the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls until the investigation is completed.

Among the petitioners whose required documents authorising legal representation, known as vakalatnamas, have not been submitted are Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy.

The Supreme Court registry has also questioned why “private parties” have been named as respondents in a public interest writ petition. The petition names the Election Commission of India as the first respondent, along with all three election commissioners.

Rahul Gandhi personally submitted the petition to the Supreme Court on Monday evening. He was accompanied by Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and other opposition alliance leaders.

Earlier, police barricades stopped an opposition march towards the Supreme Court, organised under the banner of the “Save Democracy March”. The procession was halted on Bhagwan Das Road, about 600 metres from the court. Opposition leaders organised the march to demand electoral roll revisions and the resignation of the chief election commissioner.

The petition states that the leaders have approached the court to uphold the constitutional guarantee of universal adult suffrage and ensure that the electoral process remains free, fair, transparent and accountable.

Filed through lawyer S. Prasanna, the petition names the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the other two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, as respondents.

The petitioners said they were not seeking to reopen the question of the legality of the SIR exercise itself. Instead, they want the court to examine whether safeguards recognised by the Supreme Court have been followed in implementing the exercise and whether the Election Commission has fulfilled its responsibilities as a collective constitutional body.