'Lame excuses': SC slams ECI for losing vote counting video
What's the story
The Supreme Court has expressed its displeasure with the Election Commission of India (ECI) for failing to produce the 2023 vote-counting video from Karnataka's Sringeri assembly constituency. The court was hearing a case involving Congress leader TD Rajegowda and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate DN Jeevaraj. In the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, Rajegowda won by a narrow margin of 201 votes but he was recently unseated after a recount declared Jeevaraj as the winner.
Video controversy
'How can ECI say it has lost its record?'
Today, the Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva, expressed surprised when the ECI said it couldn't trace the 2023 vote-counting video.
The court asked, "How can the Election Commission of India (ECI) say that it has lost its record?"
It further added, "Your whole purpose is to hold an election... Where is the question of you saying... 'Yeah, we are trying to trace it?'"
Record production
'Produce whatever records are available'
"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," the court said.
The court demanded the ECI to produce all available records by the next hearing date, February 15, 2027.
This demand came after Rajegowda sought access to both original and recount video recordings.
Senior Advocate Seshadri Naidu, representing the ECI, said they couldn't trace the original counting video.
Election dispute
Election dispute began with Jeevaraj challenging Rajegowda's victory
The election dispute started when Jeevaraj challenged Rajegowda's victory in the Karnataka High Court.
On April 6, 2026, the court ordered a recount of postal ballots and re-verification of 279 rejected ones.
However, Rajegowda alleged that more than just these rejected ballots were re-examined illegally by the returning officer.
The Supreme Court intervened in May to allow Rajegowda to continue as MLA while examining the legality of this recount exercise.