Supreme Court Takes Notice of Opposition Leaders' Plea Against Electoral Roll Revisions

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission of India regarding a petition from Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the INDIA bloc, challenging the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The court plans to examine the conduct of one of the petitioners in the upcoming hearing. This legal action follows allegations of significant voter deletions and irregularities in the electoral process. The case will be combined with other pending matters related to the SIR exercise across various states. Additionally, a lawyer has requested the court to consider contempt proceedings over a controversial social media post targeting the Chief Justice. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.

By Narendra Chaudhary Oct 15, 2026, 15:03 IST

Supreme Court's Response to Electoral Roll Challenge

New Delhi: On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding a petition from Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, along with other leaders from the INDIA bloc. They are contesting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and have raised concerns about the conduct of one of the petitioners, which will be addressed in the next hearing.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi decided to combine this petition with other ongoing cases that challenge the legitimacy of the SIR process in various states.

The CJI stated, "We are issuing notice and tagging it with the matters already pending," and emphasized that either the ECI should accept the notice or the petitioners must serve the respondents.

Additionally, the Supreme Court indicated it would require clarification from one of the petitioners regarding his actions, although the specific individual was not named at this time.

The court remarked, "We would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct on the next date of hearing," noting that the notice concerning this individual would be provisionally entertained, pending an explanation.

The petition, submitted on October 12, claims significant voter deletions and irregularities during the SIR process. Among the petitioners are Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

The ECI, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi are named as respondents.

This legal action follows an Opposition march to the Supreme Court protesting alleged electoral misconduct and the SIR process.

In a related development, a lawyer has approached CJI Surya Kant to consider initiating suo motu criminal contempt proceedings regarding a now-deleted social media post by Congress Kerala that targeted the CJI and the Opposition's protest.

Advocate Vineet Jindal has also requested an investigation into the reported demonstration at the Supreme Court registry during the filing of the petition by Rahul Gandhi and others, to determine if any restricted areas were breached, security protocols violated, or if the court's operations were disrupted.

Jindal has called for the preservation and review of relevant CCTV footage, access-control logs, security deployment records, and other evidence before any conclusions are made.

This matter was previously brought up in court on Tuesday, when senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia mentioned it to CJI Surya Kant. When asked if it was on the mentioning list, Bhatia confirmed it was not. The CJI instructed, "Just mention tomorrow."