New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday requested the Madras high court to issue directions to media houses over reporting on “oral” observations made during court proceedings, news reports said. The move comes after the court’s scathing observations on the ECI for “not stopping political parties” from violating COVID-19 protocols during their campaign rallies over the last month. The court had said that “murder charges” should probably be imposed on the panel for being “the only institution responsible for the situation that we are in today”.The observations were made in a case concerning COVID protocol for counting of votes in Tamil Nadu.According to NDTV, the Madras high court had said: “Your institution is singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19. Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably…Were you on another planet when the election rallies were held?”Also read: COVID in India: 35 Questions for K. VijayRaghavan, V.K. Paul and Balram BhargavaHowever, the oral observation was not recorded in the court’s order later that day, which said: “At no cost can counting become a catalyst for a further surge.”The poll body said these reports have tarnished the image of the ECI as an independent constitutional agency that is entrusted with the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections, the report added.It said a police complaint had been filed against the deputy election commissioner accusing him of murder in West Bengal after the media reports came out.Arguing that the election campaigns were not a significant factor in driving the number of COVID-19 cases, as pointed out by the court, the ECI said that no elections were held in states with the highest number of cases – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.“It therefore cannot be said that the Election Commission is ‘singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19’ nor the officers of the Election Commission can be said to be any manner culpable for ‘murder’,” NDTV reported, quoting the ECI’s petition.