New Delhi:
The re-telecast of the much-discussed video of the Chandigarh mayor election in the Supreme Court today brought some relief amid heated debate and strong observations by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The video, which had earlier drawn strong comments from the Chief Justice, was played again in the court today when the bench examined the ballot papers declared invalid during the January 30 elections. As the video was played, the Chief Justice quipped, “Let them all watch the video. A little entertainment is good for everyone!” He also said that the petitioners have already specified the relevant portion of the video and there is no need to play the entire clip again. “Otherwise we would all be here till 5.45,” he said laughing.
Earlier, the Chief Justice pulled up election returning officer Anil Masih, who was caught on camera marking ballot papers after voting. Shri Masih had declared eight votes in support of the AAP mayoral candidate invalid. This ensured the victory of the BJP candidate, even though the party got fewer votes than the AAP-Congress alliance. The Supreme Court has pulled up the official and indicated it may order a recount of votes, in which invalid votes would be treated as valid. This is likely to overturn the election results.
This comment of the Supreme Court has come after three AAP councilors joined BJP. This means that in case of re-election, BJP now has an edge over the AAP-Congress alliance. After the changes, the court also said that horse-trading of MLAs is a serious matter.
Yesterday, the Chief Justice had questioned the election officer and raised questions on his actions captured on camera. Mr Masih then claimed that he had invalidated some ballot papers because they had been defaced. This afternoon, the court examined the ballot papers and said they had not been defaced. It said that Shri Masih has misled the court. Earlier, the Chief Justice had said that the election officer should be prosecuted for tampering with the ballot papers.
