Amid growing opposition to the Special Intensive Revision ( SIR ) of electoral rolls, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the manner in which the exercise is being conducted. The court agreed to hear his plea alongside other petitions on Thursday.
The opposition planned to submit a petition detailing alleged irregularities in the SIR process and seeking action against Kumar. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and 10 other INDIA bloc leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday against the Election Commission of India (ECI), raising alleged discrepancies in voter deletions and other issues linked to the SIR process. Following this, the top court registry flagged 14 defects in the petition filed by Gandhi and the 10 other INDIA bloc leaders, preventing it from being heard on Tuesday. The defects included a ₹ 220 shortfall in court fees, an illegible photocopy of Kharge’s identity card and missing vakalatnamas for nine of the 11 petitioners.
Earlier this week, opposition parties urged people to join another round of protests, including a march to the Supreme Court, after security forces turned central Delhi into a fortress and restricted thousands of protesters participating in a Cockroach Janta Party-led movement demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Advocate Nizamuddin Pasha, appearing for Owaisi, urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi to list the petition alongside similar matters scheduled to be heard by the top court on Thursday, news agency PTI reported. Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi led the INDIA bloc’s march towards the Supreme Court on Monday.
