After Rahul Gandhi, Asaduddin Owaisi moves SC against SIR; court agrees to hear plea on October 15

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.

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.

Referring to the petition, Pasha told the bench that it concerned the manner in which the SIR exercise was being conducted. Responding to the request, the CJI-led bench indicated that it would examine the matter and the reference to similar petitions. Pasha submitted that the relevant cases had been identified in the memo accompanying his request for listing.

Owaisi's petition comes amid a series of legal challenges to the SIR process and alleged voter deletions linked to the revision.

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Rahul Gandhi, 10 INDIA bloc leaders also move SC

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.

The petition was filed by Gandhi along with Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party president and MP Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, CPI general secretary D Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Majhi, NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League MP ET Mohammed Bashir.

The petition seeks to highlight alleged discrepancies in voter deletions during the SIR exercise. It also seeks the summoning of records concerning decisions taken by the ECI and an independent probe.

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.

Opposition march to Supreme Court

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.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi led the INDIA bloc's march towards the Supreme Court on Monday. The opposition planned to submit a petition detailing alleged irregularities in the SIR process and seeking action against Kumar.

All India Students' Association president Neha Bora walked alongside the two leaders during the march. Thousands of political workers and civil rights activists joined the march, bringing major stretches of the capital, including Mandi House and Barakhamba Road, to a standstill.