Dhaka, Oct. 12 -- Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has rejected opposition leaders' request for a meeting to discuss alleged electoral malpractice, saying the issues they wanted to raise were already before the Supreme Court, The Times of India reports.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had sought an appointment between 4pm and 5pm local time on Monday to submit a memorandum over what they call "vote chori", or vote theft.

According to The Times of India, the chief justice explained his decision in an email to the opposition leaders.

The request followed a meeting between INDIA bloc representatives and President Droupadi Murmu on Friday, during which they submitted a...