Chandigarh mayor polls: SC calls election ‘mockery of democracy’ after presiding officer fudges ballots
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The Newz Radar
Chandigarh: The Supreme Court on Monday (Feb 5) gave an earful to the returning officer over his conduct during the recent mayoral polls in the Union territory of Chandigarh. The apex court said what happened during the election was a “mockery of democracy”.
Led by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, the three-judge bench made the remark while hearing a petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress. The alliance’s candidate Kuldeep Kumar lost the mayoral race to Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Manoj Sonkar after the returning officer declared eight votes invalid.
“What is he doing? It’s obvious that he has defaced the ballot…This man has to be prosecuted,” said CJI Chandrachud, referring to returning officer Anil Masih after watching a CCTV footage.
“This is a mockery of democracy. It’s murdering democracy. Is this the way he conducts an election? We are appalled by what has happened. We are simply appalled by what has happened,” he added.
The alliance candidate had 20 votes which meant he could have become the new mayor. However, after Masih declared eight votes invalid, Kumar’s effective vote count came down to 12 against Sonkar’s 16.
The court ordered that “entire records pertaining to the election” be kept in custody of the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“We direct that the entire records pertaining to the election of the mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be sequestered under the custody of the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This shall include the ballot papers, videography of the entire electoral process and all other material in the custody of the returning officer.”
Hours after the court’s statement, AAP released a new video of Masih allegedly tampering with the ballot papers before declaring them invalid.
“Now accept it, BJP. What can be a greater proof than this? See how the Presiding Officer of the BJP openly destroyed the flag of democracy by cancelling the votes himself. This is living proof of BJP’s dictatorship,” AAP said.
AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked BJP saying the “world’s biggest party was caught red-handed, stealing votes in Chandigarh election”.
