Sringeri recounting row | Congress leader TD Rajegowda to remain MLA till July 23, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended its previous order, declaring that Congress leader T D Rajegowda will remain as the MLA of Sringeri constituency, till July 23, 2026.

Rajegowda was ousted as member of the legislative assembly after a recent recount of paper ballots had led to BJP candidate D Jeevaraj being declared as the winner.

Hearing his special leave petition, the original record produced by the Election Commission was taken on record by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran.

The court directed it would be retained by the Registrar (Judicial), which would again be produced on the next date of hearing.

It also ordered that the copies of the original record made available to the court, should also be furnished to the counsel for the parties.

The bench directed its registry to call for the original record in election petition from the Karnataka High Court before the next date of hearing.

The court directed to relist the matter on July 23.

"Earlier interim order dated 11.05.2026 shall continue to operate till the next date of hearing," the bench said.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Devdatt Kamat, V Giri and Dama Seshadri Naidu appeared for Rajegowda, Jeevaraj and the Election Commission respectively.

On May 11, the top court had directed that Rajegowda would continue to remain as the MLA of Sringeri constituency as it directed for maintaining status quo.

It had directed for keeping in abeyance all the steps taken, pursuant to the Karnataka High Court's order of April 6, 2026.

In 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, Rajegowda had originally defeated Jeevaraj by a slender margin of 201 votes.

However, the high court, acting on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, directed reverification and recounting of postal ballots on April 6.

The recount exercise, however, dramatically altered the result.

Jeevaraj’s postal ballot tally reduced marginally from 692 to 690 votes and Rajeowda’s tally fell sharply from 569 to 314 votes, resulting in a net reduction of 255 votes in his favour.

The returning officer declared Jeevaraj elected under Section 66 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. This resulted in unseating of the sitting Congress MLA almost three years after he entered the assembly.