Supreme Court rejects plea to halt trial in Jayanagar election dispute

Bengaluru: The controversy surrounding the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election result from Jayanagar constituency continues, with the Supreme Court dismissing a plea filed by BJP MLA C.K. Ramamurthy seeking to stay the trial in the election petition.

The apex court’s decision has cleared the way for further legal proceedings initiated by Congress leader and defeated candidate Sowmya Reddy, who has alleged serious irregularities in the vote-counting process.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria rejected Ramamurthy’s application that sought to stall the trial. With this, the Supreme Court has upheld the Karnataka High Court’s earlier order that refused to grant a stay on the proceedings related to the election dispute.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, C.K. Ramamurthy of the BJP was declared the winner from Jayanagar by a razor-thin margin of 16 votes, defeating Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy. However, Reddy challenged the result before the High Court, alleging that election officials failed to follow due procedure during the counting of votes, particularly during the recounting of postal ballots.

She claimed that the recount was carried out in violation of Election Commission guidelines and sought judicial scrutiny of the process. Ramamurthy, in response, had approached the High Court seeking a stay on the trial, arguing that the election petition was not maintainable.

The High Court dismissed his plea, following which he moved the Supreme Court. The apex court’s dismissal of his appeal now marks another setback for the sitting MLA. The Jayanagar result had witnessed dramatic twists on counting day. Initially, Sowmya Reddy was shown as leading by 116 votes.

After the completion of 16 rounds of counting, official election data even reflected her lead at 294 votes. However, following objections raised by the BJP candidate, postal ballots were recounted three times. During the final recount, around 200 postal ballots that were earlier rejected were treated as valid, resulting in Ramamurthy taking a narrow lead of 16 votes.

The Congress party strongly objected to this final recount, alleging lack of transparency and deviation from established norms. Due to the dispute, the declaration of results was delayed.

BBMP Chief Commissioner and District Election Officer Tushar Girinath later visited the counting centre, reviewed both EVM and postal ballots, and officially declared C.K. Ramamurthy as the winner.

With the Supreme Court’s latest order, the trial into the alleged irregularities in the Jayanagar election is set to continue, keeping the high-profile electoral dispute alive nearly two years after the polls.

Also Read: LPG cylinders Price hiked Rs 111 today: Check new rates