On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declared AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar the rightful Chandigarh mayoral election winner. It set aside the results of the Chandigarh mayoral elections, as announced by the Returning Officer Anil Masih on January 30 as unlawful.
“The conduct of the Presiding Officer must be condemned on two counts. Firstly, he unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election. Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this Court on February 19, the Presiding Officer expressed falsehoods for which he must be held accountable. For these reasons, we have concluded that the results declared by the Presiding Officer are unlawful and must be set aside. We order accordingly,” noted the court in its judgment.
While scrutinizing the ballot papers, Chief Justice Chandrachud observed, “All eight have received the stamp for Kuldeep Kumar. The votes are cast for Kuldeep Kumar. What the returning officer does is put a single line. Just one line, as seen in the video.”
Also Read: SC Declares AAP Candidate As Mayor Of Chandigarh
The Supreme Court examined the ballot papers used in the Chandigarh mayoral elections held on January 30 amid accusations of vote tampering by the Returning Officer, Anil Masih.
On Monday, the Supreme Court strongly criticized Masih for meddling in the election process, asserting that he should face prosecution for “defacing ballot papers.” Additionally, the bench called for the appointment of a new returning officer for the municipal polls, one who is “not associated with any political party,” before allowing the election process to resume.
During Monday’s hearing, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, leading the bench, expressed concern about apparent “horse-trading,” stating, “We are disturbed by the horse-trading which had taken place.”
The court questioned his gazing into the camera and making marks on the ballot papers. Masih admitted to marking the defaced ballot papers, claiming he looked at a CCTV camera in the counting area. He mentioned marking eight ballot papers to distinguish them, but the CJI remained unconvinced.
“You can sign the ballot papers… Why were you ticking or putting an X on those ballot papers?… Which rule says you can put ticks or X on those ballot papers?… He (Masih) has to be prosecuted. In an electoral democracy, this cannot be allowed,” remarked the CJI.
On January 30, Manoj Sonkar of the BJP emerged victorious in the mayoral election with 16 votes, surpassing the 12 votes secured by the Congress-AAP candidate, Kumar. Despite the AAP-Congress alliance holding a majority in the house with 20 members, the rejection of eight votes as invalid had a consequential impact on the alliance’s majority.
In a bid for redress and an investigation into suspected fraud and forgery surrounding the BJP’s victory, Kumar initially sought relief from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
However, the High Court deferred the matter for a hearing three weeks later and declined to impose an immediate stay on the polls. Subsequently, Kumar turned to the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the notification of Sonkar’s appointment as Mayor.
Meanwhile, Sonkar resigned from the mayoral position on Sunday, a day before the Supreme Court hearing. Simultaneously, three AAP councillors defected and joined the BJP.
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