TD Raje Gowda | Photo credit: TH
The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim relief to Congress leader TD Raje Gowda by allowing him to continue as the MLA of Sringeri Assembly constituency in Karnataka for the time being.
Mr Raje Gowda appealed to the Supreme Court after the recount of postal ballots, following a Supreme Court order that showed the numbers were tilting in favor of his rival, DN Jeevaraj, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kumar ordered status quo ante while issuing notice to Mr. Jeevaraj and other respondents. The court adjourned the case for further hearing on May 21.
In his petition, Mr. Raje Gowda, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Devadat Kamat and advocate Tushar Giri, claimed that he is a “duly elected” member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Sringeri constituency.
The petition states that he was declared a returned candidate in the 2023 parliamentary election by a margin of 201 votes, with 279 postal tickets rejected. Mr. Jeevaraj challenged the results in an election petition filed in the High Court.
Mr. Raje Gowda argued that the Supreme Court allowed the election petition only “in part” and ordered “re-verification of the 279 rejected postal ballots and recounting of all postal ballots”.
This has put his victory in the polls under a cloud despite there being “categorical findings in his favor on every allegation of corrupt practices leveled against him”, the Congress leader said.
The petition criticized the Returning Officer for conducting a “completely illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional exercise of fresh or fresh scrutiny and re-verification of even valid postal ballots received in favor of Mr. Raj Gowda”. It was then that re-verification was ordered on only the rejected 279 postal ballots.
“In the entire order (of the High Court), there was no objection or any plea or discussion regarding the validity of the 562 valid postal ballots cast in favor of the appellant (Mr. Raj Gowda),” the petition said.
The Returning Officer deducted 255 postal votes cast in favor of Mr. Raj Gowda from the 569 postal votes earlier counted in his favor and two postal votes were deducted from the earlier 692 postal votes polled for Mr. Jeevaraj.
The court said that these measures prima facie exceeded the scope of what the high court had ordered.
“Since such steps are prima facie without merit, we are of the view that this Court calls for intervention… All steps taken in the exercise conducted by the Returning Officer shall remain in abeyance till the appeal is decided. Such an order requires restoration of the status quo ante and steps must be taken to affect it,” the apex court ordered.
Mr. Jeevaraj has already been sworn in as an MLA by Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader as the victory certificate was handed over to him by the returning officer. The ruling Congress, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, took strong exception to Mr. Jeevaraj’s declaration as the winner and the alleged foul play. The opposition BJP insists that the recount process was conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
Published – 11 May 2026 21:41 IST
