The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI) after the poll body stated it was unable to trace the original video recording of the 2023 vote count in Karnataka’s Sringeri assembly constituency.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva rejected the ECI’s explanation, warning that failure to produce the records by the next hearing would compel the court to draw an adverse inference against the commission.
Court Expresses Sharp Displeasure
During the hearing of an appeal filed by Congress leader TD Rajegowda—who was unseated following a disputed postal ballot recount that favored BJP candidate DN Jeevaraj—Senior Advocate Seshadri Naidu, appearing for the ECI, submitted that the 2023 counting footage could not be located.
The bench dismissed the submission outright:
”How can the Election Commission of India say that it has lost its record? Your whole purpose is to hold an election, and you need to have a document… Whatever you have, produce it on the next date. Otherwise, we will have to draw an adverse inference against you. We will not accept these kinds of lame excuses.”
Background of the Sringeri Dispute
The electoral tussle stems from the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, where TD Rajegowda initially won the Sringeri seat by a narrow margin of 201 votes. However, following an election petition by DN Jeevaraj, the Karnataka High Court ordered a recount of postal ballots.
The subsequent recount in May 2026 invalidated 255 votes previously counted for Rajegowda, handing Jeevaraj a revised victory margin of 52 votes. Rajegowda subsequently approached the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of the recount and alleging that the returning officer exceeded the high court’s mandate by re-examining already verified valid ballots.
The Supreme Court has previously granted interim relief allowing Rajegowda to continue functioning as an MLA while the petition remains pending. The court has scheduled the next hearing for February 15, 2027, directing the poll panel to present all available records by then.
