The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the recounting of Chandigarh Mayoral polls and directed that the eight votes which were allegedly defaced by the presiding officer be treated as valid. The apex court ordered to declare results based on the recounting.
Hearing the case, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked the judicial officer appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the ballot papers invalidated by presiding officer Anil Masih. The chief justice, examining the ballot papers said all eight votes were polled for AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Kumar.
“Mr.Masih, yesterday you told us that you put the lines because the ballot papers were defaced. Where is the ballot paper defaced?”, the Chief Justice asked. Masih checked the ballots along with his lawyer. Masih’s lawyer argued that the presiding officer is entitled to sign the ballot papers. "He is entitled to sign. In the first one, there is a small dot, some are folded from the top. He has by virtue of that line tick, he has identified for disqualification. He may be right or wrong. That is his assessment”, Masih’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi argued.
Rohatgi argued that Masih was looking at the cameras to check whether it was working since there was commotion. “There was a commotion and he was checking if the camera was working. It is not as if it was a guilty man looking at the camera,” he said.
Anil Masih on Monday admitted before the court that he tampered with the ballot papers. Masih revealed that he put 'X' marks on eight 'defaced' ballot papers.
On February 5, the court had hit out at the returning officer, observing that it was obvious that he defaced the ballot papers and that he should be prosecuted, adding that his action amounted to "murder and mockery" of democracy. The court had also ordered preservation of ballots and the video of the poll proceedings.
The mayor polls were held on January 30 and BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar. Sonkar polled 16 votes while Kumar secured 12. Eight votes were declared invalid. However, just ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing, Sonkar resigned from the mayor post and three AAP councillors joined the BJP.
In the 35-member Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors, AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven.
