INDIA bloc leaders file Supreme Court petition against Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and lead march in Delhi

Rahul Gandhi and ten other leaders of the INDIA bloc filed a joint petition in the Supreme Court on 12 October challenging the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The petition seeks an interim suspension of the ongoing SIR exercise, the establishment of an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to audit voter deletions and modifications, and public disclosure of internal Election Commission records related to the process.

The eleven petitioners are Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, CPI general secretary D Raja, JMM MP Mahua Majhi, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby and IUML leader ET Mohammed Basheer. The petition names the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi as respondents.

The plea cites alleged large-scale deletions and irregularities. It refers to a separate pending case concerning claims that approximately 13 crore names were marked absent, shifted, dead or duplicate at the draft stage. In Punjab, the draft roll published on 13 August 2026 reportedly showed a reduction of about 20.66 lakh names from an electorate of roughly 2.14 crore recorded in June. The petition also raises questions about Form 6 procedures, access to electoral databases and EVM-related processes.

On the same day, opposition leaders and supporters marched from Connaught Place toward the Supreme Court under the banner of a March for Democracy. Police deployed barricades on routes including Bhagwan Das Marg. Leaders including Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others proceeded by bus for part of the route. The Supreme Court registry later flagged 14 defects in the petition, including missing documents and a court-fee shortfall of Rs 220.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had declined a request for a meeting with INDIA bloc leaders the previous day, noting that related matters are sub judice. The petition was filed after the march reached the court premises. Opposition leaders said they were seeking accountability over alleged vote chori and a halt to the revision until judicial review is complete.

The Election Commission has maintained that draft-stage markings do not represent final deletions and that the SIR follows statutory procedures. The petition argues that the Commission’s internal decision-making lacked sufficient transparency and that some changes went beyond the approved framework. A hearing date has not yet been fixed.

The march and filing occurred while Delhi Police had just denotified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. Organisers navigated multiple security barriers. The petition asks the court to protect the rights of eligible electors and preserve the integrity of the electoral process while the issues are examined.