INDIA bloc asks Supreme Court to halt voter roll purge and order independent audit

A group of ten INDIA bloc leaders, led by Rahul Gandhi, approached the Supreme Court to contest the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The filing accuses Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other commissioners of exercising their powers unilaterally and arbitrarily, potentially infringing constitutional voting rights. The petition requests an immediate halt to the SIR until the court reviews the matter, full disclosure of all related files, agendas, minutes and ECINET/ERONET access logs, and a review of the SIR’s legality under Article 324 and the 2023 Act.

It also calls for an independent audit committee, chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, to examine voter deletions, and for the commission to publish detailed, booth-wise lists of removed voters with reasons and demographic breakdowns. Further relief seeks safeguards such as prior notice before deletions and extended inclusion deadlines for eligible voters in poll-bound states like Punjab.