The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily over Presiding Officer Anil Masih overseeing the Chandigarh Mayor elections stating that it is evident that he (Masih) had 'defaced' the ballot papers.
CJI Chandrachud expressed outrage at the video evidence, calling it a "mockery" and "murder" of democracy. "It is obvious that he (Presiding Officer) has defaced the ballot papers. He needs to be prosecuted. Why is he looking at the camera? Mr. Solicitor, this is a mockery of democracy and murdering democracy. We are appalled," the CJI said after seeing the video.
The Court directed the complete sequestration of the Mayor election records, entrusting them to the Registrar General of Punjab & Haryana High Court. The current custodian, the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh UT, is instructed to transfer the records to the HC Registrar General by 5 PM today.
In the controversial election, a BJP candidate was declared the winner, invalidating votes of 8 Congress-AAP alliance candidates.
Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that a BJP candidate was chosen as the Presiding Officer and he acted in a partisan manner by deliberately defacing eight ballot papers of the Congress-AAP councillors and deliberately rendering their votes invalid.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta contended that the video only showed a one-sided picture and urged that the Court should take a comprehensive view after seeing the entire records.
The bench, including Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, heard a petition by AAP Councillor Kuldeep Kumar, the defeated mayoral candidate, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's refusal to stay the immediate election.
The Supreme Court futher issued a notice, expressing concern over the apparent defacement of ballot papers by the presiding officer and emphasising the need to protect democracy.
Additionally, the apex court ordered the deferral of the Chandigarh municipal corporation meeting scheduled for February 7.
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