The Supreme Court registry has flagged 14 defects in a joint petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several INDIA bloc leaders over alleged electoral irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The objections include a ₹220 shortfall in court fees, missing authorisations from nine petitioners and an unclear photocopy of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s identity card.

The petition was filed on Monday as thousands of opposition leaders and supporters gathered in central Delhi for a march towards the Supreme Court. The INDIA bloc leaders sought to challenge Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities, which they described as “vote chori” (vote theft).

The Supreme Court registry also flagged missing vakalatnamas, which are written legal documents authorising lawyers to represent clients. Other defects include small fonts, missing coloured copies of two documents, dim or illegible text, missing pages, vernacular pages and discrepancies in page numbering. The registry has asked the petitioners to correct these defects before the matter can be listed for hearing.

Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, D Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Mahua Majhi, MA Baby and Indian Union Muslim League leader ET Mohammed Basheer filed the petition.

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

Listed on the Supreme Court website as Rahul Gandhi v. Election Commission of India, the petition seeks ten forms of relief concerning the SIR and other Election Commission decisions.

The INDIA bloc has asked the court to direct the production of all records related to the SIR, examine the constitutional validity of the decisions, take action against officials responsible for alleged irregularities and address the petitioners’ grievances. It has also sought an audit by an independent committee, among other reliefs.

The Congress legal team filed the petition ahead of Gandhi’s arrival at the Supreme Court. The move followed an unsuccessful attempt by opposition leaders to meet Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

The leaders had sought to submit a memorandum demanding an end to alleged vote theft, Kumar’s resignation, a halt to the SIR and a return to paper ballots. The Chief Justice declined the meeting, stating that the matter was sub judice.

Before the march, Justice Kant said the Supreme Court’s doors remained open to everyone, whether an ordinary citizen or an elected representative, when asked how opposition leaders could raise their grievances.