The Supreme Court is set to examine on Tuesday the ballot papers used in the Chandigarh Mayor elections held on January 30 amid allegations of vote tampering by the Returning Officer, Anil Masih.
Yesterday, the top court came down heavily on Masih for interfering in the election process, stating that he must face prosecution for “defacing ballot papers.” Additionally, it ordered Masih to be present in court on Tuesday as well.
The court directed the production of the ballot papers, currently in the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court, before it at 2 pm today, following directions for the preservation of the ballot papers for the court’s scrutiny.
The bench also called for the appointment of a new returning officer for the municipal polls, one “not associated with any political party”, before allowing the election process to resume.
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During the hearing on Monday, the bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, expressed concerns over the evident “horse-trading”, stating, “We are disturbed with the horse-trading which had taken place.” The apex court warned Masih of prosecution if he attempted to deceive the court. “This is a very serious matter. Any falsehood, and you will be prosecuted… Why were you looking into the camera and putting marks on the ballot papers?” the CJI said.
In his response, Masih admitted to marking the defaced ballot papers, mentioning that he happened to look at one of the many CCTV cameras in the counting area. He added that he made marks on eight ballot papers only to set them apart. However, the CJI was not convinced by Masih’s explanation.
“You can sign the ballot papers… Why were you ticking or putting an X on those ballot papers?… Which rule says that 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, as quotted by Bar and Bench.
A bench comprising CJI Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to grant an immediate stay on the election result, where a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was declared elected as the Chandigarh Mayor.
On January 30, BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was elected Mayor with 16 votes against the 12 votes received by the Congress-AAP candidate Kumar. Despite the AAP-Congress alliance having a majority in the house with 20 members, eight votes were rejected as invalid, constituting votes of the AAP-Congress alliance.
Kuldeep Kumar, seeking relief and a probe into alleged fraud and forgery in BJP’s win, initially approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, the High Court issued notice but listed the matter for hearing after three weeks, refusing to stay the polls. Kumar then moved the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the notification for Sonkar’s appointment as Mayor.
On Sunday, Sonkar resigned as the mayor, a day before the Supreme Court was to take up the matter for hearing. The same day, three AAP councillors switched sides and joined the BJP.