“We hope for favourable decree from SC”: CPI(M) MP John Brittas on INDIA bloc plea against SIR

“We hope that we'll get a favourable decree from the Supreme Court. I had written a letter to the honourable Chief Justice narrating the horrifying incidents I had to face because I was illegally detained by the Delhi Police, dragged to a vehicle and also harassed by the CRPF. And I wrote to the honourable CJI narrating all these incidents, and I'm thankful to the Supreme Court that he has converted that letter into an interlocutory petition and has tagged it with the petition that is there from the India bloc allies. We hope to move simultaneously on the legal discourse as well as the political discourse,” he said.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas, one of the petitioners in the INDIA bloc's plea against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, on Thursday said that the Supreme Court would deliver a favourable order, saying the petition raises concerns over the Election Commission's functioning, alleged arbitrary decisions by Delhi Police and the suppression of civil liberties. Speaking to ANI ahead of the SC hearing, Brittas said he had also written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) detailing the alleged harassment he faced during his detention by Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

“We hope that we'll get a favourable decree from the Supreme Court. I had written a letter to the honourable Chief Justice narrating the horrifying incidents I had to face because I was illegally detained by the Delhi Police, dragged to a vehicle and also harassed by the CRPF. And I wrote to the honourable CJI narrating all these incidents, and I'm thankful to the Supreme Court that he has converted that letter into an interlocutory petition and has tagged it with the petition that is there from the India bloc allies. We hope to move simultaneously on the legal discourse as well as the political discourse,” he said. On the expectations from the hearing, with the INDIA bloc leaders having submitted their petition, Brittas said he hoped the court would examine a range of concerns raised in the plea.

“We feel that the Supreme Court will look into the whole gamut of issues from the EVM, the way in which the Election Commission is functioning, and also the way of the arbitrary decisions of the Delhi police, the operation, the suppression, that all happening in this capital city. The Supreme Court is not blind to these issues. In previous days also, the Supreme Court have intervened to ensure that civil liberties and constitutional rights are upheld. We hope that the honourable CJI, the first court, would adjudicate on all these matters which have been put into the petition,” he said. The Supreme Court is likely to hear on Thursday a petition filed by the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and 12 other INDIA bloc leaders.

The petition, registered as W.P.(C) No. 001351/2026, was filed on October 12 and registered by the Supreme Court Registry on October 13 after initial procedural defects were addressed. The legal challenge comes days after Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders led a "March for Democracy" towards the Supreme Court, raising concerns over the electoral roll revision exercise.

It seeks a judicial examination of whether these decisions were taken in accordance with Article 324 of the Constitution, the 2023 law governing the Election Commission and the Supreme Court’s ruling in T.N. Seshan vs Union of India. (ANI)