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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, the order adds
The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Returning Officer after going through the video of the proceedings for conducting the election to the Post of Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.
Calling the situation to be a "murder of democracy", the bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra expressed that it was appalled by what had happened.
Court noted that it was obvious that the returning officer had defaced the ballot papers.
"This is a murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted", the CJI observed.
Allegedly, in the Chandigarh Mayor election, a BJP candidate was declared the winner after the votes of 8 councillors of the Congress-AAP alliance were declared invalid.
"The Returning Officer shall remain present before this Court on the next date of listing to explain his conduct as it appears in the video. 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.", the bench observed.
Accordingly, court has directed that the entire record pertaining to the election of the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be sequestered under the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana which shall include, the ballot papers, videography of the entire electoral process; and all other material in the custody of the Returning Officer.
"Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Returning Officer, states that the Returning Officer has handed over the entire record in a sealed format to the Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh on 30 January 2024.The Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh, shall comply with the above direction by handing over the entirety of the record to the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana for safe keeping and custody.", the court has ordered further.
The matter will now be taken up on 19 February 2024.
Case Title: KULDEEP KUMAR vs. U.T. CHANDIGARH & ORS.
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