New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on a plea filed by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed the petitioners to file their response to the ECI’s affidavit within 10 days.
It also granted the poll panel the liberty to file an additional affidavit, if required, within the same period.
The matter will be taken up after the Diwali vacation.
The plea, filed by Rahul Gandhi and 12 other Opposition leaders, alleges large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR exercise.
The petitioners have challenged the manner in which the electoral roll revision is being conducted.
The respondents in the matter include the ECI, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The Supreme Court had issued notice to the poll panel on October 15 and directed that the petition be tagged with other pleas already pending before it, challenging the validity of the SIR exercise in various states.
The CJI Kant-led Bench had also indicated that it would examine the conduct of one of the petitioners at the next hearing, later clarifying that the petition filed on behalf of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut would be entertained provisionally, subject to his explaining his conduct.
The direction followed controversy over Raut’s remarks concerning CJI Surya Kant after the latter declined to meet Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to receive a memorandum on the SIR exercise.
The CJI had observed that holding a meeting to discuss pending cases would be contrary to the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has filed a criminal contempt petition against Raut and journalist Nikhil Wagle over their remarks against the CJI.
The apex court issued notice to both on October 16, asking them to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.
–IANS
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