Chief Justice declines to meet INDIA bloc leaders as the opposition plans its march to the Supreme Court
Chief Justice Surya Kant declined a request from Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, backed by other INDIA bloc leaders, to meet him on Monday over the SIR of electoral rolls and the CEC (The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Mint, The Times of India, Live Law). Hindustan Times says he cited judicial propriety; The Hindu says he gave reasons. The leaders had planned to march from India Gate to the Supreme Court and meet him after 4 pm (Hindustan Times). Rahul Gandhi announced the march (The Hindu), and the DYFI will petition the Court over alleged illegal detention and torture of activists (The Hindu).
The standoff puts the judiciary between the government and the opposition in a dispute about how voter lists are revised and who runs the Election Commission. How the Court answers will shape how far the voter-list revision can be challenged on the street and in court.
No direct effect, except that a march in central Delhi can mean traffic curbs and metro closures today.
The opposition's case, as it frames it, is that citizens detained for protesting must be able to reach the highest court, and that a meeting is a legitimate way to ask for protection.
The Chief Justice, by Hindustan Times's account, cited judicial propriety: a bench that meets one side in private risks losing the trust of the other.
The refusal is routine; the petitions are what matter. Watch whether the bench asks Delhi Police and the Home Ministry for written answers on the detentions, and whether the march goes ahead peacefully.
DailyDrop India edition No. 8 · Morning · MON., OCT. 12, 2026