Chandigarh Mayor polls: Supreme Court slams Returning Officer, issues notice

The Supreme Court on February 5 came down heavily on the Returning Officer of Chandigarh Municipal polls over the manner in which the results were declared, which saw the BJP defeating the Congress-AAP alliance.

Issuing a notice to Returning Officer Anil Masih, the top court directed that entire records of the municipal elections be sequestered with the High Court Registrar General, and the ballots and videos be preserved.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took strong exception to the Returning Officer defacing ballot papers and making a mockery of democracy.

The apex court said that it was appalled by the behaviour of the returning officer of the elections. "Why is he looking at the camera and running like a fugitive?", the CJI said after seeing the video of the proceedings, reports LiveLaw outlet.

It also temporarily stayed the activities of the Municipal Corporation and ordered the ensuing meeting of the corporators to be deferred.

The Court also effectively stayed any activity on the part of the Municipal Corporation for the time being.

"The ensuing meeting of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be deferred till the next date. Let the papers be handed over to the High Court registrar general by today 5 pm. List on the next Monday week," the Court ordered.

A plea was filed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's refusal to grant an immediate stay on the election result in which a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was declared elected Chandigarh Mayor.

BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was elected as Mayor on January 30 after he bagged 16 votes against the 12 votes received by the Congress-AAP candidate Kumar.

(With inputs from agencies)