Fresh elections are fertile ground for 'horse trading.' With three AAP counselors having already crossed over to the BJP ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the infamous Chandigarh Mayor Polls, the Apex Court scuttled any such possibility with its verdict.
In a verdict that is being read as a big blow to the BJP and the conduct of elections, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court Bench stated that a fit case is made for the initiation of proceedings under Section 340 CrPC against Anil Masih. The bench directed a notice be issued to Anil Masih to show cause as to why steps should not be initiated against him under Section 340 CrPC.
Thus, the Supreme Court declared AAP councilor Kuldeep Kumar as the mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, setting aside the election of a BJP candidate as declared by presiding officer Anil Masih.
On Monday, the SC proposed that the results of the controversial mayor's elections be declared on the basis of the already cast and present ballot papers instead of fresh elections. Voicing its concerns loudly over horse trading, the court stated that the votes already cast be counted and the marks made on them be disregarded. Earlier in the court, presiding officer Anil Massih had admitted to making X marks on 8 ballot papers to make them invalid and declare the result in favour of BJP. After the 8 defaced AAP votes, the BJP had 'won' the elections by a meager four votes.
Last month, presiding officer Anil Masih was caught in a CCTV footage while putting X marks on the ballot papers, sparking outrage across social media. The court had added that it would ask the Deputy Commissioner of the Chandigarh Administration to nominate an officer, who is not aligned with any of the political parties, to be the returning officer and count the ballots and declare the results. "The process shall be taken to the logical conclusion from the stage it stopped before the declaration of results," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.
Netizens hail order
With the final verdict, Kuldeep Kumar has been declared the validly elected Chandigarh Mayor with 20 votes. More than celebrating that the right candidate finally received the post, the netizens hailed the decision that the misconduct of the election was meted out with the treatment and justice it deserved. In its first hearing on the matter, the SC called the conduct of the election, "a murder of democracy."
