New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today created history by ordering the final phase of Chandigarh Mayor elections to be watched in the courtroom and the counting of votes. At the end, Kuldeep Kumar of Aam Aadmi Party was declared mayor by the judges.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud – which this morning scrutinized the ballot papers and rapped the returning officer who invalidated eight votes by distorting them – refused to leave the next part of the electoral process to the authorities.
BJP’s appeal for re-election was also rejected.
“This court is duty-bound to ensure that the democratic process is not subverted by such tactics,” the judges said.
“We are, therefore, of the view that the Court should step in in such extraordinary circumstances so as to ensure the basic democratic mandate,” the bench said.
After counting of votes, the judges said, “The petitioner is declared to be a validly elected candidate for the post of Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation,” before ordering legal proceedings against the erring election officer.
Anil Masih faces contempt of court charges. They will have to show cause within three weeks as to why action should not be taken against them.
The results overturned the BJP’s victory, declared at the end of a highly controversial election in January, which was challenged by an AAP candidate.
A video of the counting, in which the returning officer was seen mutilating eight ballot papers while looking at the CCTV camera of the room, proved this.
The angry judges called it a “murder of democracy” and took the case into their own hands. The Chief Justice of India said, “It is clearly visible in the video that he is looking at the camera and mutilating the ballot paper…Legal action should be taken against this officer.”
The BJP had won the mayoral election in a blow to the AAP-Congress alliance, which had claimed that the election was an acid test for the India block. But yesterday evening BJP Mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned from his post.
However, the Supreme Court move may be a temporary relief for AAP, three of whose councilors have joined the BJP.
Criticizing BJP for ‘running dictatorship within the country’, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said, ‘All institutions are being crushed… hence this decision of the Supreme Court is very important.’
“The judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the farcical election for Chandigarh Mayor will go a long way in saving Indian democracy. The entire election process was a complete farce, which has been duly exposed with this landmark judgment!” Congress’s KC Venugopal posted on Twitter, ex.
