Rahul Gandhi's plea against 'vote chori' has 14 defects, SC registry flags ₹220 fee shortfall

The registry also pointed out missing authorisations from nine petitioners and an illegible photocopy of the identity card of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, among other procedural discrepancies.

The objections must be addressed before the petition can be listed for a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Missing documents, illegible copies among objections

The registry's objections include missing vakalatnamas, or documents authorising lawyers to represent the petitioners, along with a requirement to submit a legible copy of Kharge's identity card.

Other defects reportedly include the use of small fonts, missing coloured copies of two documents, dim or illegible text, missing pages, vernacular-language pages and discrepancies in page numbering.

The petitioners will have to rectify these issues before the case can proceed to the next stage.

Rahul Gandhi, opposition leaders challenge Election Commission

The petition was filed on Monday as Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders participated in a march in central Delhi before proceeding towards the Supreme Court to challenge alleged electoral irregularities and the SIR exercise.

The INDIA bloc leaders have accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of facilitating alleged “vote chori”, or vote theft, and sought judicial intervention.

Besides Gandhi and Kharge, the petitioners include Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, D Raja, Mahua Majhi, MA Baby and Indian Union Muslim League leader ET Mohammed Basheer.

The respondents named in the petition are the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Ten reliefs sought from Supreme Court

The petition seeks ten forms of relief concerning the SIR exercise and other decisions taken by the Election Commission.

Among the key demands are directions to produce records related to the revision exercise, judicial scrutiny of the constitutional validity of the ECI's decisions, action against officials allegedly responsible for irregularities and redressal of the petitioners' grievances.

The opposition leaders have also sought an audit by an independent committee, among other measures.

The petition, listed on the Supreme Court website as Rahul Gandhi v. Election Commission of India, challenges the poll panel's actions and seeks judicial oversight of the electoral process.

Opposition's attempt to meet Chief Justice unsuccessful

Monday's march followed an unsuccessful attempt by INDIA bloc leaders to secure a meeting with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

The opposition leaders had sought to submit a memorandum demanding an end to alleged vote theft, the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, a halt to the SIR exercise and a return to paper ballots.

The Chief Justice declined the request for a meeting, stating that the matter was sub judice.

However, Justice Kant had earlier emphasised that the Supreme Court's doors remained open to everyone, including ordinary citizens and elected representatives, when asked how opposition leaders could raise their grievances.

The petition will now have to clear the registry's procedural objections before it can be considered for a hearing.