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Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president and Lok Sabha MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking mandatory videography of the entire vote-counting process for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections scheduled to be held across Punjab on December 17.

In a public interest litigation (PIL) filed through advocate Nikhil Ghai, Warring said the plea was moved “in the interest of safeguarding the purity, transparency and credibility of the electoral process” in rural local body elections in the state.

Counting Is a Decisive Stage, the Plea Argues

Arguing on Warring’s behalf, counsel submitted that vote counting is an integral and decisive stage of the electoral process, extending up to the declaration of results. Despite this settled legal position, counting in Zila Parishad elections was being conducted without mandatory videography, leaving no objective or verifiable record of the most sensitive phase of elections.

The petitioner contended that the absence of videography rendered the process opaque and vulnerable to arbitrariness, giving rise to allegations of manipulation and eroding public confidence in democratic institutions.

Violation of Constitutional Guarantees Alleged

Relying on constitutional principles, the plea maintained that free and fair elections form part of the Constitution’s basic structure, and that lack of transparency at the counting stage violated Articles 14, 21 and 243K of the Constitution.

It was argued that videography of the counting process constituted a minimal, reasonable and constitutionally permissible safeguard that neither interfered with the election process nor compromised ballot secrecy. Instead, it would enhance accountability, deter malpractice and reduce post-election disputes.

Preventive Safeguards, Not Result Challenge

Clarifying that no election outcome was being challenged, the petitioner sought preventive institutional safeguards, including directions to:

• Mandate videography of the entire vote-counting process

• Ensure secure preservation of video records for a prescribed period.

• Make the recordings available for judicial or statutory scrutiny, if required.

The plea also sought framing of uniform and binding guidelines governing videography, storage, access and accountability. The petition is listed for hearing on Tuesday.