New Delhi:
Eight “spoiled” ballot papers from last month’s controversial Chandigarh mayor election – which are at the center of a bitter political-legal battle between AAP and BJP – should be produced in the Supreme Court at 10.30 am on Tuesday, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said. Said this evening.
The court said “no fresh polling” would be required as it sought to resolve the dispute over the outcome of the election, in which Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Sonkar was elected mayor by a margin of four votes after eight ballots from Aam Aadmi Party councilors were rejected. was chosen. Declared “invalid” for no apparent reason.
“What we propose to do is this… We will direct the Deputy Commissioner to appoint a new returning officer, who is not associated with any political party. The process will be taken from that stage to its logical conclusion where it There was a pause before the declaration of results,” the Chief Justice said.
“The results should be declared ignoring any marks imposed by the (original) returning officer (Anil Masih). The process should be judicially monitored by the (Punjab and Haryana) High Court,” he said.
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To this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Chandigarh administration, said, “I have been told that some are torn or damaged. Let the High Court see…”, but the Supreme Court did not agree.
The petitioner, AAP’s failed mayoral candidate Kuldeep Kumar, pointed out that only eight ballot papers were to be studied, adding, “They are not torn.”
“We will ask the Registrar General of the High Court (who was directed by the Supreme Court to collect and preserve all the records) to nominate any officer who will be present with the ballot papers tomorrow… We will see the ballot papers ourselves,” The Chief Justice insisted.
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The court’s attempt to resolve the matter has been seen by many as a potential blow to the BJP, which would have been in a stronger position had re-election been ordered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party was far away from majority in the voting held on January 31, but the inclusion of three AAP MLAs – Poonam Devi, Neha and Gurucharan Kala – in its fold has definitely given it an edge.
BJP now has 17 votes in the 35-member Municipal Corporation. Add one Akali Dal councilor and Chandigarh Lok Sabha MP – who has voting rights as ex-officio member – and the number is 19.
Read | BJP wins Chandigarh Mayor election in first battle vs India Block
After the trio of defections, AAP has only 10, and its ally Congress has seven.
BJP will get a slight but significant advantage in the latest elections.
Read | BJP benefits from Chandigarh Mayor’s resignation, 3 AAP councilors included
With three former AAP members joining BJP, the discussion of ‘horse-trading’ has also started afresh.
“The fear was that this would lead to horse-trading… now that is what has happened,” the petitioner said, to which the Chief Justice acknowledged the seriousness of the allegation.
Meanwhile, the court also made strong comments about Mr Masih’s role in the controversy, after calling his actions a “mockery of democracy” in an earlier hearing.
Returning Officer Anil Masih told the Supreme Court that he had marked ‘X’ on eight ballot papers.
The controversy erupted when a video showed Mr Masih – then a member of the BJP’s minority cell – writing on eight ballot papers of AAP councilors – before registering them in the records.
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By doing so, AAP then and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi argued in court today, they had invalidated votes in an election the party was expected to win easily.
BJP has completely rejected these allegations.
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