“We will not allow democracy to be murdered like this” CJI DY Chandrachud on Chandigarh mayoral elections
Last Updated on February 5, 2024 by News Desk
Supreme court on Monday condemned the act of the presiding officer of Chandigarh mayor elections, saying that it is murder of democracy and is obvious that the ballot papers were defaced.
“Is this the behaviour of the returning officer, and wherever there is a cross at the bottom he does not touch it and it is at the top, he alters it…Please tell the returning officer that the Supreme Court is watching him We will not allow democracy to be murdered like this. The great stabilising force in the country is the purity of the election process” the apex court said.
The supreme court bench Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra was hearing the plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Councilor Kuldeep Kumar, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order of refusing to grant stay on the results of mayoral elections which declared Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar as the mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.
Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that a BJP candidate was chosen as the Presiding Officer, who has acted in a partisan manner by deliberately defacing eight ballot papers of the Congress-AAP councilors and rendering them invalid.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta contended that the video only showed a one-sided picture and urged the Court to take a comprehensive view after seeing the entire records.
Earlier, the AAP councillor moved to the high court alleging the vote tempering in the Chandigarh mayoral poll, in which the BJP candidate Mr. Sonkar secured victory after gaining 16 votes against the 12 votes received by Mr. Kumar ( AAP candidate) where the presiding officer(Anil Masih) has rejected 8 votes secured by AAP candidate declaring them as invalid.
A video has gone viral showing Mr. Masih tempering the ballot papers before putting his signature on them.
Therefore, Mr. Kumar sought to set aside the impugned results and claimed that it was a ‘complete fraud and forgery laid upon the democratic process’. He also prayed for the holding of fresh elections in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired High Court Judge. However, the high court denied the stay on the results and refused to dissolve the functioning of the office.
The Supreme Court condemned the act of presiding officer, Mr. Masih. “Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is a murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud remarked after watching the viral video.
The court order stated, “Prima facie, at this stage, we are of the considered view that an appropriate interim order was warranted, which the High Court has failed to pass, in order to protect the purity and sanctity of the electoral process”
The court further directed entire record pertaining to the election of the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be sequestered under the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana which shall include The ballot papers, Videography of the entire electoral process, All other material in the custody of the Returning Officer. The Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh UT, who currently possesses the records, should hand over them to the HC Registrar General by 5 PM today.
It also deferred the meeting of Chandigarh municipal corporation, which was ensued to take place on 7 February, until further order of the court.
The matter has been listed further on 19 February 2024.
Case title: KULDEEP KUMAR vs. U.T. CHANDIGARH SLP(C) No. 002998 – / 2024
Written by Shagun Behal
