New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has reportedly turned down a request for an audience with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

The decision comes just a day before the top opposition figures were scheduled to meet the judicial chief regarding alleged Election Commission irregularities and recent police action against demonstrators in the capital.

Scheduled appointment refused

Sources stated that the apex court head declined to grant time to the delegation, which had formally requested an audience between 4 pm and 5 pm on Monday.

The leaders had planned to hand over a joint opposition memorandum addressing:

  • Alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) and discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
  • Demands for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's immediate resignation.
  • High-handed police measures and detentions during weekend protests across Delhi.

Addressing reporters earlier in the day, Mallikarjun Kharge had stated that both he and Rahul Gandhi wrote separate letters to the CJI, seeking an audience with “folded hands" to brief him on what he described as an “undeclared Emergency”.

Protest march to go ahead
Despite the development, source-based inputs indicate that the INDIA bloc's planned “Chalo Delhi – March for Democracy" from Connaught Place toward the Supreme Court complex will proceed as scheduled on Monday afternoon.