Supreme Court Slams ECI Over Missing Karnataka Vote-Counting Video

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Election Commission of India (ECI) for claiming that it was unable to trace the 2023 video recording of the counting of votes in Karnataka's Sringeri assembly constituency. The Court was hearing a case related to the election dispute between Congress leader TD Rajegowda and BJP candidate DN Jeevaraj. Rajegowda had won the assembly elections from Sringeri assembly constituency in 2023 by a narrow margin of 201 votes. However, the Congress candidate was recently unseated after a recount declared that Jeevaraj had secured more votes. In May, the top court granted Rajegowda relief by directing that he shall remain the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) during the pendency of his plea.Today, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva expressed surprise after the ECI said that it was unable to trace the video recording of the counting that took place in 2023."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’? You gave it to the elected candidate. There is no custody of records. 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.Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva (supreme court judges)Supreme CourtWhatever you have, pr