The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to produce available records relating to the 2023 Sringeri Assembly election dispute after the Commission said it could not trace the original vote-counting video. The Court warned that failure to produce the records could lead to an adverse inference against the Commission.
Background
The dispute concerns Congress MLA TD Rajegowda and BJP candidate DN Jeevaraj, who contested the Sringeri Assembly seat in Karnataka in 2023. Rajegowda was initially declared elected by a margin of 201 votes.
On April 6, 2026, the Karnataka High Court ordered a recount of postal ballots, including the re-verification of 279 rejected postal ballots. Following the exercise, the returning officer declared a revised result on May 3, 2026, reducing Rajegowda’s votes by 255 and declaring Jeevaraj elected.
Rajegowda challenged the revised result before the Supreme Court, arguing that the returning officer had reconsidered 562 valid postal ballots in his favour, beyond the scope of the High Court’s directions.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva heard the matter after Rajegowda sought the election observer’s report and video recordings of the original counting and subsequent recount.
Senior Advocate Seshadri Naidu, appearing for the ECI, informed the Court that the 2023 counting video could not be traced. The Bench expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation and stressed the importance of maintaining election records.
“How can the Election Commission of India (ECI) say that it has lost its record? Your whole purpose is to hold an election, and you need to have a document. Where is the question of you saying, ‘Yeah, we are trying to trace it’?”
The Court further directed the Commission to produce whatever material remained available, warning against non-compliance.
“Whatever there is produce by the next date of hearing. Otherwise we will have to draw adverse inference against you.”
The Supreme Court directed the ECI to produce the available records and video recordings by the next hearing. It warned that failure to do so could result in an adverse inference against the Commission.
The matter was posted for further hearing on February 15, 2027.
