'Can't even file a petition': Piyush Goyal's swipe at INDIA plea on SIR

In a swipe after the Supreme Court registry flagged defects in the petition questioning the legitimacy of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the Congress "cannot even file a petition properly". Sources in the Congress dismissed the criticism, saying the issues flagged are "procedural" and are being fixed.

"If they really have some proof against the Election Commission, any evidence of vote chori, why did they not give it to the (Supreme) Court, to the Election Commission? Actually, there is such stupidity at play here that they cannot even file a petition properly. This is despite giving so many big lawyers Rajya Sabha seats," Goyal told the media.

"The petition they filed in the Supreme Court has 14 defects... so much so that they cannot even pay the court fee properly... I believe the Congress is itself responsible for its failures. The Congress's future under Rahul Gandhi's leadership is dark," he added.

The joint writ petition by Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other INDIA bloc leaders was not listed for hearing on Tuesday as the defects were yet to be cured.

According to the Supreme Court's website, the registry flagged 14 defects. On Tuesday, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant assured the petitioners that once the defects are cured, the matter would be listed for hearing.

"We will list all these matters. Make sure that the defects are cured," the Chief Justice of India told Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who mentioned the matter on behalf of a journalist.

The petition has alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. This comes amid the Opposition's protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

The petition seeks the constitution of an independent committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and assisted by technical experts and other citizens of eminence, for a time-bound, independent audit of deletions and modifications made during the SIR.

Besides Gandhi and Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, CPI's D Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Majhi, CPM general secretary M A Baby and Indian Union Muslim League leader E T Mohammed Basheer are co-petitioners in the petition.

"All issues flagged by the court were procedural. Like some signatures were not in place etc. in the next one hour or so, we will get it all done. These are procedural things and happen in court proceedings. We will do it as per the court's directions," said a source in the AICC legal department.