Morning Pulse: The SIR fight reaches the Supreme Court as a 3.45 am India Gate detention opens a new front

For a week the voter-roll quarrel has been argued with marches, slogans and election scorecards. This morning it moves to the one forum both sides say they respect. At 10:30 am a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi takes up the INDIA bloc's petition against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) alongside a stack of pleas over how Delhi policed the protests, LiveLaw reported. And while the capital slept, a second protest that has nothing to do with voter lists ended in detentions at India Gate. The common thread: who may protest in Delhi, and who gets to judge how the state responds.

The main petition, filed by Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other opposition leaders after their march to the court on Monday, asks for a time-bound audit of SIR deletions by a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, Business Today and Aaj Tak reported. It also seeks an interim suspension of the SIR, notice before any voter is struck off, booth-wise lists of deleted names with reasons, and the Commission's internal files on the June 2025 decision to launch the exercise. The respondents are the Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The petition's sharpest charge, as reported by Aaj Tak, is that Kumar took key decisions without the knowledge or consent of the other two commissioners, citing a September newspaper report of objections. Aaj Tak noted that the Commission has said its decisions were unanimous and that differences of view are a normal part of its process. It also says the widely quoted figure of about 13 crore removals counts voters marked absent, shifted, dead or duplicate at the draft stage, not final deletions. We found no fresh public statement from the Commission overnight.

That closes one loop from last night. The petition we flagged as held up by 14 filing defects is now on the court's list; none of the reports we read spell out how the defects were dealt with. LiveLaw counted at least 16 related matters listed with it, including RJD MP Manoj Jha's challenge to road closures and internet curbs, bar associations' demands for an inquiry into lawyers allegedly manhandled on October 10, a contempt plea over Metro and train curbs, a challenge to Jantar Mantar's de-listing, and petitions over the crowd on the court's premises after Monday's march.

The voter-roll row also drew its first comment from a US lawmaker, PTI reported. Pramila Jayapal, an Indian-origin Democrat from Washington, wrote on X on Wednesday that she was deeply concerned about what she called a purge of 130 million voters, compared it to actions of the Trump administration and backed non-violent protest. PTI and GoodReturns cited Election Commission figures of about 7.2 crore deletions from draft rolls in the first two SIR phases and 6.16 crore so far in the third, and the Commission's position that wrongly excluded voters can seek inclusion through claims and objections and Form 6. Neither report carried a government or BJP response to Jayapal.

The night's other flashpoint was India Gate. Ankita Bhandari's parents, joined by Congress leaders, had been sitting in protest against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Governor of Sikkim, Scroll and NewsDrum reported. Congress MP Jothimani posted that Delhi Police and the CRPF detained the parents and Congress MPs at 3.45 am; they were released within two hours. The family wants the appointment held until the CBI completes its probe into an alleged "VIP" link to the 2022 murder of the 19-year-old resort receptionist, for which three men were sentenced to life in May 2025.

Gautam, a former BJP national general secretary, denies any involvement and has gone to court for defamation, Scroll and NewsDrum reported; Scroll said the Delhi High Court had directed the Congress and AAP to remove posts linking him to the case. No court has found him involved. Ankita's father gave the government a 24-hour ultimatum, and her mother said they would go on hunger strike at home if not allowed to sit at India Gate, Times Now Navbharat reported. Congress leaders alleged police manhandled women protesters. We found no statement from Delhi Police or the BJP on the detentions.

Markets look set for a soft start. GIFT Nifty was trading slightly below Wednesday's Nifty close of 22,622.70 early this morning, Kotak Neo and DSIJ reported, with Brent crude around $105-106 a barrel. Of last night's other loops, we found no Delhi Police response to the NSUI activists' assault allegations and no change in the custody of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.