Despite this being a settled legal position, the counting of votes in Zila Parishad elections was conducted without mandatory videography, leaving no objective or verifiable record of the most sensitive phase of the elections, the plea said.

The petition sought preventive institutional safeguards, including directions to mandate videography of the entire counting process, secure preservation of videographic records for a prescribed period, and their availability for judicial or statutory scrutiny.

It also sought the framing of uniform and binding guidelines governing videography, storage, access and accountability.

Earlier, the high court had directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to ensure the non-partisan conduct of police personnel and to inquire into allegations of misconduct by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress, as both parties had claimed that their candidates and workers were allegedly intimidated and attacked to prevent them from participating in the poll process.

There was a low voter turnout of 48 per cent in these polls, compared to 58.1 per cent in 2018.