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Synopsis

The Supreme Court of India on Monday appointed an Independent Observer for the Chandigarh mayoral poll scheduled for January 30, in order to ensure free and fair elections.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh passed the order in a plea filed by Chandigarh Mayor Kuldeep Singh, seeking to hold the elections by a show of hands instead of a secret ballot to ensure fairness in the process.

"The issue pertains to the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, which is scheduled for 30 January. The petitioner is the current Mayor. He approached the High Court (HC) seeking a direction to defer the election until 20 February 2025, on the premise that he will complete his actual tenure on that date. That prayer has been declined by the HC, " the court said.

While clarifying that it was not inclined to interfere with the view taken by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Supreme Court stated that notice was issued for the limited purpose of appointing an independent observer to ensure the election is conducted in a fair and free manner on the scheduled date.

"In this regard, SG Mehta, representing the Corporation, stated that he has no objection to the appointment of an independent observer.In light of the mutually agreeable stand on both sides, we deem it appropriate to appoint so and so as the Independent Observer. The election proceedings shall be conducted in the physical presence of the observer. The proceedings will be videographed, and the learned observer shall be paid by Chandigarh UT. All the necessary security arrangements shall be made. Election proceedings shall be videographed. All necessary security arrangements be also made," the court ordered.

During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, "...History may not repeat every time, but if lordship feels then someone can be appointed as an observer, only thing is it should not become a precedent."

When Justice Surya Kant asked the Solicitor General whom he thought could be appointed, SG Mehta responded, "We leave it to Your Lordship." However, Senior Advocate Gurminder Singh recommended some names.

Senior Advocate Gurminder Singh further submitted that if the elections were conducted by a show of hands, the manipulation linked with the secret ballot would end.

Hearing this, SG Tushar Mehta reiterated that the internal functioning of the corporation cannot be decided by a third person; they can only serve as an observer.

In February 2024, the Supreme Court had held that Aam Aadmi Party Councilor Kuldeep Kumar to be the validly elected candidate of the Chandigarh Mayor elections. Observing that it was the court's basic duty to ensure that electoral democracy is preserved, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra noted that after adding the 8 ballot papers, all cast in favour of the AAP candidate, which were originally declared to be invalid, the tally of votes would amount to 20 votes in favour of Kumar as opposed to the 16 votes received by his BJP opponent.

"The conduct of the Presiding Officer has to be deprecated at two levels, firstly he has unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral elections and secondly, in making a solemn statement before this court, he has made a falsehood for which he must be held accountable.", the court noted.

Court accordingly went on to set aside the election results declared by Presiding Officer Anil Masih. The bench also refused to order fresh election process noting that it would be inappropriate to do so.

Furthermore, the Registrar Judicial of Punjab and Haryana High Court is directed to issue a show cause to Anil Masih to show why action must not be taken against him as per Section 340 of CrPC.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had 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.

Accordingly, court had 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.

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.

Case Title: KULDEEP KUMAR vs. U.T. CHANDIGARH & ORS.