Bengaluru, May 5 : The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on the FIR registered against Sringeri MLA, D.N. Jeevaraj, in connection with allegations of tampering with postal ballots. Rapping the police department, the court has warned cops against acting under political influence.

Following the victory of BJP candidates in recounting of postal ballots in Sringeri Assembly segment, a case was registered at the Chikkamagaluru Town Police Station on Monday against three individuals by Karnataka Police, including D.N. Jeevaraj, over allegations of irregularities in postal ballots in the Sringeri Assembly constituency.

The process of reverification and recounting of postal ballots in the Sringeri constituency in the 2023 Assembly elections on the orders of the Karnataka High Court was completed on Sunday.

The Bench, headed by Justice V. Srishananda gave the order with regard to the case, while looking into the petition in this regard by victorious BJP MLA Jeevaraj.

Jeevaraj had approached the High Court seeking to quash the criminal case filed against him. A Vacation Bench headed by Justice Srishananda heard the petition and expressed strong dissatisfaction over the manner in which the case was handled by the authorities.

The court questioned how an FIR could be registered now for an incident that allegedly took place on May 13, 2023. It also pulled up the prosecution for failing to bring the alleged tampering to the courtâ??s notice earlier.

During the hearing, the judge observed that such allegations are often made by defeated candidates and issued directions for the Investigating Officer to appear before the court.

The Bench further questioned why an FIR had been registered against the Deputy Commissioner who was in office in 2023, while no case was filed against the current election officer, Gaurav Shetty. It cautioned the police against acting under political influence.

The court noted that the recounting of postal ballots had been conducted as per its earlier directions and questioned why issues such as missing seals or double markings were not raised at that stage.

Observing that it would have granted a stay even if an FIR had been filed against former MLA T.D. Rajegowda, the court opined that a case cannot be registered against a Deputy Commissioner under the Representation of the People Act.

The court granted an interim stay on any coercive action in the case and adjourned the matter to May 7 for further hearing.

The complaint in this regard was filed by Sudheer Kumar Murolli, an advocate on May 3, who served as an agent at a postal ballot counting table. In his complaint, he alleged suspected tampering of ballot papers during the counting process.

The FIR was filed under Sections 143, 465, 468, 471, 120B and 149 of the IPC and Section 136 of Representation of People Act, 1951 and 1988. The complainant has stated that since the recounting process was done till late after midnight, there was a delay in lodging of police complaint.

Jeevaraj has been declared elected as MLA from the Sringeri Assembly constituency following a recount of postal ballots, securing victory by a margin of 52 votes.

With this win, Jeevaraj has been elected as an MLA for the fourth time. The election officer formally handed over the certificate to him after the completion of the recount process.

The result comes nearly three years after the 2023 Assembly election, in which Congress candidate T.D. Rajegowda had won by a margin of 201 votes. In the 2026 postal ballot recount, a significant number of votes were declared invalid, altering the final outcome.

/IANS