The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an urgent plea on Monday filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging a recent order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court had refused to grant interim relief to the AAP, which had sought fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh.
The case, brought forward by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi on behalf of councillor Kumar, is set to be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The AAP councillor is contesting the denial of interim relief and the listing of the plea after three weeks.
The mayoral elections in Chandigarh saw a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which retained all three posts. This outcome proved to be a setback for the Congress-AAP alliance, which raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process, alleging tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer.
On Wednesday, a division bench of Justices Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bunger of the high court denied interim relief to the AAP. The party had alleged tampering with ballot papers and sought fresh polls under the supervision of a retired judge from the court.
The high court issued notices to key stakeholders, including the Chandigarh administration, the municipal corporation, presiding officer Anil Masih, and newly-elected mayor Manoj Sonkar, requiring them to file their replies within three weeks.
Councillor Kuldeep Kumar, the AAP candidate, appealed to the Supreme Court against the denial of interim relief and the three-week timeline for the plea. The high court had adjourned the matter until February 26.
The plea filed in the high court asserted that the election was not conducted in a free and fair manner, citing gross violations during the vote-counting process. The AAP alleged tampering of ballot papers in favor of the BJP and against the AAP-Congress alliance.
The petitioner urged an investigation by an independent agency into the alleged fraud during the election process.
Furthermore, the petitioner sought directions to seal, preserve, and present the entire election process, including the record of ballot papers and proceedings, before the high court. Additionally, the plea requested restraining the newly-elected mayor from performing his duties, claiming that the entire election process was "vitiated by fraud."
The Congress and AAP had anticipated an easy victory for their alliance in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, presenting it as a crucial test for the opposition bloc ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
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