Anti-CEC protests LIVE: Supreme Court registry points out 10 defects in Rahul Gandhi's plea in SIR case

Is the Election Commission of India (ECI) at sixes and sevens, idiomatically and otherwise? Will Form 6 be its undoing, and has Form 7 caused it unmanageable discomfiture? The barbs associated with these forms have further damaged the image of the beleaguered constitutional body entrusted with safeguarding the constitutional right to vote of “we, the people”.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday (October 12, 2026) accused the Delhi Police of mentally torturing him and his family after informing him of his grandmother’s death during his preventive detention last week. He alleged that the police did not allow him to speak to his cousin about his grandmother’s death and instead asked him to call his grieving parents. He also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “coward dictator”.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, along with other leaders of Opposition parties, moved the Supreme Court on Monday (October 12, 2026) seeking a complete disclosure of “files, agendas, minutes, notings and objections” recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which has so far led to the deletion of about 13 crore voters from electoral rolls across India.

Mr. Gandhi sought a judicial examination of the Election Commission of India (ECI) records to verify whether Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted arbitrarily and unilaterally during the ongoing SIR.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday (October 12, 2026) compared the repeated protests by the Opposition against alleged “vote chori “ (theft) to Lord Shiva’s tandav (cosmic dance), while claiming that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had sent him messages.

“This is tandav, Lord Shiva’s dance. There is no planning here,” Mr. Gandhi said in response to a question on the Opposition’s future strategy on the issue, adding, “There is no need for a plan. A dance is going on, Lord Shiva’s dance. And anyone can join Shivji ki baraat (the wedding procession of Lord Shiva).”

Exactly three days before the Delhi Police de-notified central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site on Monday (October 12, 2026), the Supreme Court and the Union government were on the same page about finding an alternative site to “peacefully and lawfully” express dissent in the national capital.

On October 9, both the court and the government had reasoned that central Delhi was too cramped for protests. It denied protesters basic amenities. Observations and remarks were also exchanged about how inconvenient protests in and around Jantar Mantar were to ordinary commuters in Delhi. The Chief Justice of India remarked that central Delhi did not have any washroom, medical and drinking water facilities.

Opposition parties and youth groups strongly condemned the Centre’s decision on Monday (October 12, 2026) to de-notify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site in New Delhi. This comes as youth organisations have been trying to seek permission to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding rollback of the special intensive revision (SIR) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has invited INDIA bloc MPs, civil society members and student organisations for a high tea at his residence on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), sources said.

They said a joint press conference of INDIA leaders would also take place in the afternoon followed by tea at Gandhi’s 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence.

“Following today’s March for Democracy and the submission of the petition ... a joint press conference of INDIA leaders will be held tomorrow afternoon, followed by tea. ‘I invite you to join me at my residence at 5, Sunehri Bagh Road, New Delhi, at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, 13th October’,” the invite read.

This comes a day after the raging protests over the vote theft charge reached the Supreme Court’s doorstep. Opposition stalwarts, joined by activists and civil society members, undertook a “March for Democracy” on a heavily barricaded route and filed a joint petition against SIR and alleged poll irregularities in a major show of strength in the national capital. -- PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday (October 12, 2026) clarified that it had neither approved nor disapproved the controversial alterations made to Form 6 in its May 27 judgment, which was entirely about the legality of the pilot Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar.

The Court said the May 27 ruling pre-dated the changes made to Form 6.

The Delhi Police detained more than 5,000 protesters as they tried to reach Jantar Mantar for the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a rollback of the SIR. In the lead up to the protests in Delhi, there was a nationwide crackdown on protesters by the police force. Among those detained and brutally manhandled by the Delhi police were leaders of various political factions, former Chief Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, lawyers, journalists, students, activists, and reportedly people who were not even part of the protest. Police detained people at representatives’ residences even before the protest started, and en route to the protest site. However, the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 11, 2026) directed the Centre and the Delhi Police to ensure free movement of people ‘subject to law and order’.

The DMK on Monday (October 12, 2026) said it had no reason to participate in protests organised by the Congress after the latter “betrayed” it for the sake of power, forcing the DMK to leave the INDIA bloc.

“We left the INDIA bloc after the Congress betrayed the DMK for the sake of power. There is no need for us to participate in the Congress’s protests, and the party cannot compel us to join them,” a statement from the DMK headquarters said on Monday (October 12).

The Delhi Police on Monday (October 12, 2026) de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated venue for protests and demonstrations, replacing one of the capital’s longest-established sites of public dissent with three alternative grounds farther from the seat of power. The move drew criticism from activists, who said relocating demonstrations would make it harder for citizens to draw the attention of political leaders and decision-makers to their demands.

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The scene was a stark departure from the preceding two days, when student protesters attempting to mobilise in the same parts of the Capital were rounded up, bundled into police buses and taken away. Several alleged that they had been assaulted during detention, while journalists covering the protests also reported being detained.