New Delhi: In a major blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the results of the Chandigarh Mayor election held on January 30 and declared Kuldeep Kumar, the joint candidate of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress, as the winner. The apex court also reprimanded the Returning Officer Anil Masih for lying in court and issued a contempt notice to him.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, said that Masih had wrongly invalidated eight ballot papers that were cast in favor of Kuldeep Kumar, thereby altering the outcome of the election. The court said that Masih had acted in a “malafide and arbitrary manner” and violated the principles of natural justice and fair play.
The court directed that all the records of the election be sent back to the High Court Registrar and be kept in safe custody. It also asked Masih to file his reply within three weeks and explain why he should not be punished for contempt of court.
The court’s verdict came on a petition filed by Kuldeep Kumar, who had challenged the election results and alleged that Masih had deliberately rejected his votes on flimsy grounds. Kumar had claimed that he had secured 20 votes, while his rival Manoj Sonkar of BJP had got 16 votes. However, Masih had declared Sonkar as the winner with 16 votes, while Kumar had got only 12 votes.
The court observed that Masih had not given any valid reason for rejecting the eight votes of Kumar and had not followed the procedure prescribed by the Election Commission of India. The court said that Masih had acted in a “biased and partisan manner” and had shown “utter disregard” for the democratic process.
The court also noted that Masih had given false and misleading statements in his affidavit and had tried to mislead the court. The court said that Masih had committed “perjury and contempt of court” and had “eroded the faith of the people in the electoral system”.
The court’s decision was hailed by the AAP and the Congress leaders, who congratulated Kuldeep Kumar on his victory. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal thanked the Supreme Court for saving democracy in these “difficult times”. Kejriwal tweeted on the social media platform ‘X’ that Kuldeep Kumar was a boy from a poor family and his election as the Mayor of Chandigarh was possible only because of Indian democracy and the Honorable Supreme Court. He also said that the impartiality of democracy and autonomous institutions had to be preserved at any cost.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot also welcomed the court’s verdict and said that it had exposed the “fraud and manipulation” of the BJP in the Chandigarh Mayor election. He said that the BJP had tried to “steal” the mandate of the people and had “disrespected” the Constitution and the law. He said that the Congress and the AAP had joined hands to defeat the BJP and to serve the people of Chandigarh.
The BJP, on the other hand, expressed its disappointment and said that it would respect the court’s decision. BJP state president CP Joshi said that the party had fought the election in a fair and transparent manner and had won the trust of the people. He said that the party would continue to work for the development and welfare of Chandigarh. He also said that the party would examine the court’s order and decide its future course of action.
