The Supreme Court has requested the ballot papers and complete video recording of the counting day for the Chandigarh mayoral polls for review on Tuesday, stating concerns about potential "horse-trading." The court directed the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to assign a judicial officer to safely transport the records to Delhi. The Chief Justice, D Y Chandrachud, had previously criticized Returning Officer Anil Masih, stating that his actions amounted to "murder" and a "mockery" of democracy.
The bench, including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, instructed the Chandigarh administration to provide security to the appointed judicial officer to ensure safety during the review at 2 pm on Tuesday.
Masih, who appeared before the court, faced questioning regarding the alleged tampering of certain ballot papers. He admitted to marking eight "defaced" ballot papers with an "X" and accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors of causing disruption and attempting to snatch the papers, prompting him to monitor the CCTV camera at the counting centre.
The Chief Justice noted the occurrence of horse trading and rejected a plea to defer the mayoral polls case to another day.
Previously, the Supreme Court had strongly criticized Returning Officer Masih and insisted on his prosecution. An AAP councillor, Kuldeep Kumar, has challenged a Punjab and Haryana High Court order denying interim relief to the party, which sought fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh. The BJP emerged victorious in the Chandigarh mayoral polls against the Congress-AAP alliance on January 30, with Manoj Sonkar securing the mayor's position. However, Sonkar later resigned from the post.
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