Karnataka High Court Stays Case Against Consultant Accused Of Converting Voter Lists Into Excel & Posting On Social Media For A 'Fee'

The Karnataka High Court on Monday (April 6) stayed criminal proceedings against election consultant and founder of 'School of Politics' Abhimanyu Bharti for allegedly downloading the official voter list from ECI's website, converting the data into an Excel sheet and posting it on Instagram and Facebook for a 'fee'.Justice M Nagaprasanna granted the interim relief while hearing Bharti's petition, challenging the criminal proceedings following a complaint made by an electoral officer at Hassan during the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Elections, 2023. The model code of conduct was in force at the relevant time. It was alleged by the complainant-electoral officer that the posts made by the accused had the potential to mislead the public and influence the electoral process.Hassan Police subsequently registered an FIR against Bharti for offences under Sections 66D (Cheating by Personation) and 84C (Attempt to Commit Offences) of IT Act, along with Sections 171F(Undue Influence or Personation at Elections) and 171G(False Statement in Connection with an Election) of Indian Penal Code.Since the trial court dismissed Abhimanyu's plea for discharge under Section 239 CrPC, he approached the High Court to quash the trial court proceedings, chargesheet and FIR.After hearing argument's petitioner's counsel Adv. Shodhan Babu the court in its order said:"Learned Addtnl. SPP accepts notice for the respondent State….Meantime, there shall be an interim order of stay on further proceedings qua the petitioners before the concerned court till the next date of hearing…"According to the petitioner, 'School of Politics' run by Bharti, is a political academy engaged in training and consultancy about electoral strategy, campaign design and political communication.Babu argued that the voter list is a public document already available to the general public and the electoral rolls were downloaded from the official website of Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka. In the plea, it has been argued that the petitioner had not altered any information contained in the official records; Abhimanyu has also not claimed any direct connection with ECI when these excel formatted voters list were posted on the official social media handles of 'School of Politics'., the petition says.In Instagram and Facebook, the post was titled as 'UPDATED VOTER LIST IN EXCEL Available at Cheapest Cost'. The voter list alone was allegedly put up for sale at Rs 9,999/- whereas the votel list along with phone number cost Rs 14,999/-.He also submits in the plea that even if the aforesaid allegations levelled against him are assumed to be true, it wouldn't fulfil the essential ingredients of the offences he has been charged with. None of the acts done by the petitioner, including making the electoral rolls easily accessible for a small fee, does not constitute the offences of cheating, impersonation, undue influence or fabrication under IT Act or IPC, the plea further adds. Even if there has been any violation of Model Code of Conduct, it is not a penal statute, and its alleged violation cannot by itself create criminal liability, the petitioner contends. Citing the dismissal of discharge application by the trial court, the petitioner objected to the relevance of trial judge's observations about the company's [School of Politics] Memorandum of Association which did not permit such commercial activity.The petition adds that the original PDF provided by the ECI is often not in a 'searchable format', making it difficult for individuals to analyze the data. Today, the counsel submitted as follows before the single judge bench:"I have not made any embellishments to the list. It is not in a searchable format [in the original PDF]. I have only converted it into the Excel format. It can't be searched on a computer device otherwise”, Babu said. When the Court questioned the ethics and legality of putting a public list up for 'sale', the petitioner maintained that no electoral rights had been affected by his actions and that he has not impersonated any election officer.Case Title: Abhimanyu Bharti v. State of Karnataka & Anr.Case No.: Criminal Petition No. 17645/2026

Karnataka High Court Stays Case Against Consultant Accused Of Converting Voter Lists Into Excel & Posting On Social Media For A 'Fee'

Sebin James

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