BJP’s Manoj Sonkar resigns as Chandigarh mayor day before Supreme Court hearing: Reports

SC censured polling officers of Chandigarh mayoral polls on February 5

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Sonkar has resigned as the mayor of Chandigarh a day before the hearing in the Supreme Court over the alleged irregularities in the vote-counting process, The Indian Express reported on February 18.

The BJP candidate had won the mayoral polls, held on January 30, after bagging 16 votes as compared to his rival's 12. The victory came after eight votes were declared invalid by the polling officials.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had tied up with the Congress for the mayoral elections, moved the apex court citing a video that purportedly showed the returning officer allegedly defacing the ballot papers during the counting of votes.

A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud was shown the video of the alleged incident.

The SC bench on February 5 came down heavily on the returning officer and noted that it was a "mockery of democracy" and the officer's actions amounted to "murder of democracy".

The court directed that all poll records including ballot papers and videography of the proceedings be submitted to the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The court further deferred the upcoming sitting of the municipal corporation which was scheduled to take place on February 7. Furthermore, the returning officer was asked to be present in the court on the next date of hearing on February 19.