Karnataka HC suspends live streaming citing 'mischief', 'unprecedented situation'
Bengaluru, Dec 5: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday suspended video conferencing facilities in the principal bench in Bengaluru and the circuit benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi and also live streaming of proceedings on YouTube following what it called "mischief" and "unprecedented situation".
Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale made the announcement this morning.
Just before the lunch break on Monday, some persons are believed to have hacked into the video conferencing network and posted mischievous videos.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice Varale said, "Unfortunate situation. We are stopping all the live streaming, video streaming etc, video conferencing. Unfortunately, some mischief is being played by somebody. There may be something at the level of some mischief players or at the level of technology being misused."
He, however, did not elaborate.
The Chief Justice requested the advocates whose cases are listed to inform their colleagues and counterparts about the cancellation and not to rush to the Registrar or the video conference personnel.
"This is an unfortunate and unprecedented situation. Otherwise, the Karnataka High Court was always in favour of technology being used for better services for the public at large as well as the learned counsels.
"But for the situation which is unprecedented, we have to take this decision. Please cooperate. This is a request to all the learned counsels to please request your colleagues (as well)," the Chief Justice of the High Court said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
