New Delhi | Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said that a meeting with opposition leaders would be "incompatible with the established ethics and judicial propriety" as the matter raised by them are sub judice before the court.

In his letter to leaders of opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, the CJI declined the meeting on Monday and told them that discussing pending cases would be improper and urged them to file a petition with the court either physically or online.

"At the very outset, it may be noted that the issues referred to hereinabove are already sub judice before the Supreme Court of India.

"Therefore, convening a meeting to discuss pending cases would wholly contravene the principle of Separation of Powers, an intrinsic facet of the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution of India, and would be incompatible with the established ethics and judicial propriety.

"In this vein, I also wish to remind you that within our constitutional framework, the Supreme Court of India is not endowed with any administrative powers to deal with the issues highlighted in your letter," he said.

"However, in the exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 32 of our Constitution, along with other plenary powers, including that of judicial review, we are duty-bound to consider on judicial side the gravamen of issues affecting the citizens of India," the CJI said, responding to Gandhi and Kharge's letter, which was shared by the Congress on Monday.

The Supreme Court of India reiterates its commitment to preserve and protect the Fundamental Rights of every citizen of India and that they are entitled to seek enforcement of such rights at all hours through the procedure known in law, Chief Justice Kant said.

"It would thus be more appropriate on your part to invoke the judicial powers of the Supreme Court of India, instead of submitting a memorandum on the administrative side," the CJI said.

Kharge and Gandhi had written to him on October 10 seeking a meeting with him on October 12 between 4 pm and 5 pm, to submit a memorandum concerning the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commission of India; the "arbitrary arrest" of several students; the closure of metro stations; and the cancellation of trains, among other issues.

Opposition leaders would march to the Supreme Court to file a petition against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and 'vote chori' on Monday afternoon.