<p>Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed till May 7, the FIR registered against D N Jeevaraj, who was declared MLA from Sringeri constituency after a recounting of postal ballots. </p><p>The BJP MLA challenged the May 3, 2026, FIR for postal ballot tampering allegedly happened after the counting process on May 13, 2023.</p><p>Vacation judge Justice V Srishananda noted that the FIR was lodged only after the recount and revision of the election result. The court observed that the FIR regarding an incident of May 13, 2023, looks like a politically influenced complaint.</p><p>The recounting had taken place on May 3, 2026, pursuant to the directions issued by the high court in an election petition filed by BJP candidate Jeevaraj. </p><p>After the Returning Officer formally declared a revised result, in which Jeevaraj was declared the winning candidate, a complaint was filed by Sudhir Kumar Murolli, poll counting agent for Congress candidate T D Raje Gowda.</p>.Amid confusion, counting of postal ballots in Sringeri assembly constituency remains incomplete.<p>The complaint stated that certain postal ballots, particularly the ones with votes in favour of Raje Gowda, were manipulated after the counting in 2023. The FIR was registered by the Chikkamagaluru police for offences under IPC sections 143, 465, 468, 471, 120B, 149 and section 136 of the Representation of People Act. The FIR also named Deputy Commissioner KN Ramesh and former Returning Officer Vedamurthy.</p><p>In his petition, Jeeravaj stated that upon considering his election petition, the high court had directed re-verification of rejected postal ballots, recounting of all postal ballots and issuance of a fresh declaration of results if there was any change in the vote count. </p><p>The petition contended that the allegations in the complaint pertain to the very counting process and postal ballot verification which were subject matter of election petition before the high court and that after considering the irregularities, the court had issued directions for reverification and recounting.</p><p>The court orally observed that even if there were irregularities, the remedy should have been an election petition. “This is visible. The case has been registered for political pressure. If the same case was registered against Raje Gowda, I would have stayed that also. This is nothing but an abuse of process. What is going on? When counting is under the court's direction, necessary precautions are needed. What is this process of making deputy commissioner, agent and all as an accused party? If this is the situation, no officer will work properly. What the Supreme Court observed in respect of West Bengal will be applicable directly. The Supreme Court appointed judges there (in West Bengal). They will come here also. We have to appoint judicial officers as returning officers. This is not good development,” Justice Srishananda observed while adjourning the hearing to Thursday.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed till May 7, the FIR registered against D N Jeevaraj, who was declared MLA from Sringeri constituency after a recounting of postal ballots. </p><p>The BJP MLA challenged the May 3, 2026, FIR for postal ballot tampering allegedly happened after the counting process on May 13, 2023.</p><p>Vacation judge Justice V Srishananda noted that the FIR was lodged only after the recount and revision of the election result. The court observed that the FIR regarding an incident of May 13, 2023, looks like a politically influenced complaint.</p><p>The recounting had taken place on May 3, 2026, pursuant to the directions issued by the high court in an election petition filed by BJP candidate Jeevaraj. </p><p>After the Returning Officer formally declared a revised result, in which Jeevaraj was declared the winning candidate, a complaint was filed by Sudhir Kumar Murolli, poll counting agent for Congress candidate T D Raje Gowda.</p>.Amid confusion, counting of postal ballots in Sringeri assembly constituency remains incomplete.<p>The complaint stated that certain postal ballots, particularly the ones with votes in favour of Raje Gowda, were manipulated after the counting in 2023. The FIR was registered by the Chikkamagaluru police for offences under IPC sections 143, 465, 468, 471, 120B, 149 and section 136 of the Representation of People Act. The FIR also named Deputy Commissioner KN Ramesh and former Returning Officer Vedamurthy.</p><p>In his petition, Jeeravaj stated that upon considering his election petition, the high court had directed re-verification of rejected postal ballots, recounting of all postal ballots and issuance of a fresh declaration of results if there was any change in the vote count. </p><p>The petition contended that the allegations in the complaint pertain to the very counting process and postal ballot verification which were subject matter of election petition before the high court and that after considering the irregularities, the court had issued directions for reverification and recounting.</p><p>The court orally observed that even if there were irregularities, the remedy should have been an election petition. “This is visible. The case has been registered for political pressure. If the same case was registered against Raje Gowda, I would have stayed that also. This is nothing but an abuse of process. What is going on? When counting is under the court's direction, necessary precautions are needed. What is this process of making deputy commissioner, agent and all as an accused party? If this is the situation, no officer will work properly. What the Supreme Court observed in respect of West Bengal will be applicable directly. The Supreme Court appointed judges there (in West Bengal). They will come here also. We have to appoint judicial officers as returning officers. This is not good development,” Justice Srishananda observed while adjourning the hearing to Thursday.</p>