The Supreme Court on Tuesday invalidated the results of the January 30 elections for Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, in which the BJP's Manoj Sonkar was elected, and declared Kuldeep Kumar, the joint candidate put forward by the AAP-Congress combine, the winner.
A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday ruled that the eight ballots on which the presiding officer Anil Masih had marked were validly cast in favour of Kumar, who had petitioned the Supreme Court against the outcome of the January 30 election.
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The bench, which also included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, set aside the January 30 results as "contrary to law" but refused to annul the entire electoral process.
According to Indian Express, it said, “We are of the considered view that in such a case, this court is duty bound, particularly in the context of its jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution, to do complete justice to ensure that the process of electoral democracy is not allowed to be thwarted by such subterfuges. Allowing such a state of affairs to take place would be destructive of the most valued principles on which the entire edifice of democracy in our country depends. We are therefore of the view that the court must step in in such exceptional situations to ensure that the basic mandate of electoral democracy albeit at the local participatory level is preserved.”
Manoj Sonkar of the BJP defeated Kuldeep Kumar by 16 votes to 12 votes to become mayor. Sonkar eventually resigned, and three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.
The controversy centred on eight ballots that the presiding officer declared invalid. Only 28 of the total 36 votes were counted. The AAP councillor got 12 votes, while the BJP candidate got 16.
In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court referred to Masih's actions as a "mockery of democracy" and indicated that it would do just that - a historic first in independent India and a stern warning to the potential hijacking of poll results weeks before the Lok Sabha election.
The Supreme Court made it clear that it was not quashing the entire electoral process, but rather dealing with the irregularities in the counting process that resulted in the invalidation of eight votes cast in Kumar's favour.
(Inputs from agencies)
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