A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the 2023 election of Congress leader and incumbent Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramiah from the Varuna constituency [K Shankara v. Siddaramaiah].

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice in the matter today, thereby seeking a response to the plea from Siddaramiah.

Advocate Vishwaditya Sharma appeared for the petitioner, K Shankara, a voter from Varuna constituency.

The Karnataka High Court had earlier dismissed this plea in April this year. The petitioner, K Shankara, had filed it on allegations that the five election guarantees made in the Indian National Congress (INC) party's manifesto for the State polls in 2023 amounted to bribery and a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act.

Shankara added that since the manifesto was issued with Siddaramaiah's consent, he too committed corrupt practices.

The petitioner, therefore, urged the Court to declare Siddaramaiah's election void and debar him from contesting elections for six years.

In April, Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav rejected these arguments, holding that election guarantees cannot constitute a corrupt practice.

Justice Yadav also criticised the 'casual manner' in which the election petition was drafted.

In this regard, it noted that there were discrepancies in the numbering of paragraphs in the petition, when compared to the accompanying verification affidavit, and that the name of the State's Chief Secretary was incorrectly mentioned.

"These instances are only illustrative and not exhaustive and would indicate very casual attitude in drafting an election dispute, the High Court added in its April ruling.

[Live Coverage]