On February 5, while hearing the matter against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to grant an immediate stay on the Chandigarh Mayor Election result wherein faulty electoral practices had taken place, the Supreme Court severely criticised the (mis)conduct of the Presiding Officer, calling the same to be “a mockery of democracy.” The bench ordered for the petitioner to be present in the court on the next date of hearing and explain his conduct. Notably, the ensuing meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, scheduled to be held on February 7, has also been ordered to stand deferred. The petition in the Supreme Court had been moved by AAP Councillor Kuldeep Kumar, the defeated Mayor candidate.
Brief background of the case:
It is essential to note that the video was of the controversial election that had taken place on January 30 saw a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, namely Manoj Sonkar, being declared the winner of Mayor elections after the votes of eight candidates of the Congress-Aam Aadmi Party alliance were declared invalid by the presiding officer. After the video from the said elections had emerged, the opposition parties had decried the illegality of the conduct of the presiding officer and had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 31.
It is essential to note that the High Court had issued notice returnable by three weeks on the petition moved before it in the said case without granting an immediate stay on the result.
The High Court bench comprising Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger had stated “Whether counting was proper, whether procedure was followed or not…These are all questions of facts.”
In his petitioner, AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar, had alleged vote tampering in the said elections, seeking an order to set aside of the impugned election result “as the same is a result of complete fraud and forgery laid upon the democratic process”. In addition to this, the petitioner had prayed for holding of fresh elections in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired High Court Judge.
The hearing:
During the hearings, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, also comprising of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, saw the video from the election and orally remarked that “It is obvious that he defaced the ballot papers.” The CJI had also stated “Tell him that the Supreme Court is watching him.”
Referencing to the video shows, CJI had further castigated the officer and urged for his prosecution by stating that “Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted.”
As per a report in LiveLaw, the CJI had expressed his utter dismay at the Presiding Officer behaving like a fugitive and running after declaring the alleged false result. The CJI was quoted as saying that the Court is “appalled” to see the behaviour of the Presiding Officer. “Why is he looking at the camera and running like a fugitive?”.
The order:
In the order that has been issued by the Supreme Court, the bench has ordered for the presiding officer of the mayoral elections to be present in the curt to give an explanation regarding his behaviour. In point 3 of the order, the bench had provided that “Returning Officer shall remain present before this Court on the next date of listing to explain his conduct as it appears in the video.”
Referring to the misconduct and unfairness alleged by the petitioner and criticising the refusal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to grant a stay on the said elections, the bench stated that “Prima facie, at this stage, we are of the considered view that an appropriate interim order was warranted, which the High Court has failed to pass, in order to protect the purity and sanctity of the electoral process.” (Point 4)
The bench also ordered for the entire record of the Mayor election should be sequestered and be kept with the Punjab &Haryana High Court Registrar General and the ballots, and videography be preserved. As dictated by the order, the said exercised to be carried by the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh UT, who has possession of the records at present, and should be handed over them to the HC Registrar General by today (February 5) 5 PM.
Lastly, the court specified that the next scheduled meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will remain deferred until further pending orders. The court in the order stated “The ensuing meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, which is to take place on 7 February 2024, shall stand deferred, pending further orders of this Court.” (Point 9)
The next date for the hearing of the matter has been notified as February 19, 2024.
The complete order can be read here:
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