Morning Pulse: The SIR fight reaches the court, but a Rs 220 fee gap keeps it off today's list

The opposition's case against the voter-roll revision got into the Supreme Court last night, but it will not get a hearing today. The court's registry flagged 14 defects in the petition filed by Rahul Gandhi and ten other leaders on Monday, according to reports by NDTV, IANS and India TV. The list runs from missing authorisation papers for nine petitioners and a blurred copy of Mallikarjun Kharge's identity card to a court-fee shortfall of Rs 220. Under the court's rules, a petition cannot be listed until its defects are fixed, so the listing we flagged last night is on hold.

The paperwork matters less than what the plea asks for, which is now public. The petition seeks an interim suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls while the case is decided, Dainik Jagran and India TV reported. It also asks for a committee led by a retired Supreme Court judge to audit deletions and changes in the Election Commission's databases, access to the Commission's internal files and objections, booth-wise lists of deleted voters with reasons, and an order that no voter be struck off without notice and a hearing. The respondents are the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The petitioners include Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Raut, D Raja and M A Baby.

What does come up today is the street fight's legal tail. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued contempt notices on Sunday to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and Delhi Metro chief D Thara. It said a prima facie case had been made out that last week's metro and rail curbs defied the court's October 9 order, and asked for replies and a compliance report by today, Bar and Bench and The Tribune reported.

Also listed today, before a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, is the Supreme Court Bar Association's plea. It alleges that lawyers walking near the court on October 10 were manhandled, detained and driven several kilometres away. The bar body wants a police status report, the basis for prohibitory orders, CCTV and body-camera footage preserved, and internet access restored, Business Standard reported. A fresh front opened on Monday too: the Free Speech Collective filed contempt and writ petitions alleging that police detained journalists covering Sunday's protest in breach of the court's order protecting reporters, Bar and Bench and The Wire reported. No hearing date had been reported for it.

The other loop from last night has not closed. We could find no public response from the Election Commission to Rahul Gandhi's demand that the CEC resign, or to his claims about messages from Kumar. On the government side, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called the opposition's conduct an abuse of constitutional authorities, ANI reported.

On protest sites, nothing new has been published yet. The Delhi Police order dated October 11 moves protests from Jantar Mantar to Ramlila Ground, CBD Ground and Burari Ground, and says operating rules for the three sites will be issued separately, Outlook reported. Burari is about 44 km from Jantar Mantar by Outlook's estimate. The move follows a Supreme Court remark on October 9 that a better-equipped site should be found.

Late on Monday, President Droupadi Murmu reshuffled governors in six states, ANI and Business Today reported. Om Prakash Mathur moves from Sikkim to Kerala, and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar from Kerala to Tamil Nadu. Braj Mohan Ram goes to Odisha, Sudha Yadav to Karnataka, Dhal Singh Bisen to Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam to Sikkim.

In a quieter courtroom, the Centre told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Monday that it will cap trade margins on cancer medicines at 30% of the retail price. The judges pressed further and asked why the cap should stop at cancer drugs. Justice Mehta noted that an Indian-made cardiac stent costs a retailer Rs 5,000 but carries a retail price of Rs 25,000, LiveLaw and Bar and Bench reported. The case returns on October 27. Coming on the day retail inflation was reported at 5.54%, it is a reminder that household costs are also on the court's docket.