In a drastic move, the Supreme Court on February 20 declared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the winner of the Chandigarh mayoral election as he secured 20 votes against the 16 votes secured by BJP's Manor Sonkar.
The court further set aside the result of the election as declared by the presiding officer Anil Masih and directed that show cause notice be issued to him on why he should not be penalised for his conduct.
SC held that the presiding officer put his own mark on eight ballot papers to invalidate the votes that were cast in favour of the AAP candidate. The apex court furthermore noted that the presiding officer violated statutory regulations and went beyond his remit.
SC said, "The presiding officer is guilty of serious misdemeanor in doing what he did." According to the apex court, Masih made deliberate efforts to ensure that BJP’s candidate won. Furthermore, the apex court noted that the officer unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election and made a wrong statement before the court.
The Chief Justice of India DY Chadrachud-led bench noted that under these circumstances -- it must step in such exceptional situations to ensure basic mandate of electoral democracy is preserved.
SC however refrained from ordering a fresh election for Chandigarh mayor as "it will not be appropriate to set aside the entire election to be set aside in entirety as it would further compound the destruction of fundamental democratic principles."
On February 19, the Supreme Court questioned Masih in open court after letting him know that any statement he makes in the court room will have its consequences. Masih had told the court that he had invalidated the eight votes as they were defaced. The SC thereafter directed that the ballot papers be brought to the court so that it could examine and pass an order.
On February 5, the SC viewed the video of the presiding officer allegedly defacing the ballot papers and came down heavily on him noting 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 by the evening.
Chandigarh polls:
On January 30, BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, in a setback to the Congress-AAP alliance. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar defeated the AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor’s post, polling 16 votes against his rival’s 12. Eight votes were declared invalid. Opposition councillors alleged the presiding officer tampered with the ballot papers, a charge rubbished by the BJP.
The AAP moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and sought fresh elections under the supervision of a retired judge but the court refused to grant any interim relief. The case thus reached the Supreme Court on appeal against the HC order.
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