New Delhi, Oct. 14 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 14, took a stern view of the Election Commission of India's (ECI) inability to trace the video recording of the 2023 vote-counting exercise in Karnataka's Sringeri Assembly constituency. The court directed the poll body to produce the available records at the next hearing and warned that it could draw an adverse inference if the material was not furnished.

The case concerns the electoral contest between Congress leader T.D. Rajegowda and BJP candidate D.N. Jeevaraj. Rajegowda had won the 2023 Assembly election by 201 votes, but a subsequent recount resulted in Jeevaraj being declared the winner.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva was hearing Rajegowda's cha...