The Supreme Court of India granted interim relief to Congress leader T D Rajegowda and restore him as the MLA from Karnataka’s Sringeri constituency and stayed the recount process that had earlier declared BJP leader D N Jeevaraj the winner.

A Bench of Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar said democratic processes cannot be allowed to be “hijacked” and ordered restoration of the earlier position until the matter is heard further.

The dispute relates to the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, where Rajegowda had originally won the Sringeri seat by 201 votes. Later, a recount of certain postal ballots was carried out in an election dispute, after which election authorities revised the result and declared Jeevaraj elected by 55 votes.

Before the apex court, Rajegowda argued that the recount went beyond the limited scope permitted by the court. He submitted that officials were only supposed to verify rejected postal ballots, but they also re-examined ballots that had already been accepted and counted in his favour.

After hearing the submissions, the Supreme Court prima facie found merit in Rajegowda’s challenge and stayed the revised election result. As a result, Rajegowda has been reinstated as the MLA from Sringeri for now.

The matter will be heard again by the Court in the coming days.