The Supreme Court registry has raised 14 objections to a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders against the Election Commission of India, citing 14 procedural lapses that include a court fee deficiency of Rs 220. According to NDTV, The registry has also pointed to the absence of authorisation documents for nine petitioners and a blurred, unreadable copy of the identity card submitted for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
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The legal challenge was filed on Monday as thousands of protesters assembled in central Delhi and marched towards the Supreme Court, seeking action over alleged electoral malpractices and “vote chori” involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
While INDIA bloc leaders participated in the march, their legal team approached the top court seeking judicial intervention over the poll panel's functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The registry's objections extend beyond the court fee shortfall and missing authorisations.They include incomplete vakalatnamas, which authorise lawyers to represent petitioners, as well as requirements for clearer and coloured copies of certain documents.
The registry also flagged small font sizes, illegible text, missing pages, vernacular-language pages and inconsistencies in page numbering. The petition names the Election Commission of India, Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as respondents.
The identified defects will have to be rectified before the petition can proceed towards listing for a hearing. The registry's objections are procedural in nature and do not constitute a judicial determination of the allegations raised by the petitioners.
What The Petition Seeks
Listed on the Supreme Court website as Rahul Gandhi v. Election Commission of India, the petition seeks 10 forms of relief concerning the SIR exercise and other decisions taken by the poll panel.
According to details accessed by NDTV, the petitioners have sought directions for the production of all records relating to the SIR, judicial scrutiny of the constitutional validity of decisions taken during the exercise, and action against officials allegedly responsible for irregularities.
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The petition also seeks redressal of the grievances raised by the petitioners and an audit by an independent committee, among other measures.
The legal challenge marks a fresh escalation in the Opposition's confrontation with the Election Commission over electoral rolls and allegations of vote manipulation.
The petition's progress will depend on the petitioners addressing the registry's objections before the matter can be taken up by the court, as per NDTV.
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