CJI Surya Kant declines INDIA bloc’s meeting request; Opposition march to proceed

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has turned down a request from the Congress-led INDIA bloc for a meeting with him, asking the Opposition alliance to place its concerns before the Supreme Court through a formal petition.

The refusal came a day before the bloc’s planned march to the Supreme Court. Sources said the CJI pointed out that several issues the Opposition intends to highlight are already before the court and are being examined in ongoing proceedings.

The Chief Justice is learnt to have made it clear that the Supreme Court cannot receive a delegation representing a political party at the administrative level. According to sources, he said the judiciary’s function is confined to hearing cases and pronouncing judgments on the basis of law.

He also stressed that the country’s highest court remains accessible to every citizen at all times. The CJI reportedly said the Supreme Court’s doors are “open 24 hours a day for all” and that the institution remains committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights of citizens.

The INDIA bloc, however, is expected to go ahead with its march on Monday. The protest is part of the Opposition’s wider campaign against the Election Commission and the Centre, centered on allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The Opposition has been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the revision exercise was carried out in a manner that benefited the ruling dispensation. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has sought to present the march as a citizens’ movement rather than a party-led protest. “It is not of a political party, but of all Indians,” he has said, as the Congress attempts to rally wider support against the poll body and the BJP-led government.

Last Friday, the INDIA bloc submitted a charter of demands to President Droupadi Murmu. The alliance sought the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, repeal of the 2023 law that grants legal immunity to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, an immediate halt to the SIR exercise, and restoration of 13.3 crore voters it claims were deleted from the electoral rolls.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday stepped up the attack on the legal safeguards available to election commissioners. He alleged that the 2023 legislation was introduced to protect the poll body’s leadership from legal action.

“To create such an atmosphere, PM Modi brought the 2023 Act to protect the Chief Election Commissioner and members. That immunity he gave. That immunity is not even for the President of India, not the Chief Justice, but that is given to one Election Commissioner,” Kharge said.

(Inputs from IANS)