'Thank you for saving democracy': Arvind Kejriwal after Supreme Court's verdict on Chandigarh mayoral polls

The Supreme Court ordered recounting of votes in Chandigarh mayoral polls . The apex court validated 8 votes previously invalidated by Returning Officer . Arvind Kejriwal thanked Supreme Court for 'saving democracy'.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday extended his thanks to the Supreme Court for "saving democracy" after its verdict on the Chandigarh mayoral polls. Eight votes that the Returning Officer had declared illegal were found to be legitimate by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a recount of the votes in the Chandigarh mayoral election. These eight votes were given to AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar for mayor, the court stated in its ruling.

Moments after the court's verdict, Arvind Kejriwal posted on X, "Thank you SC (Supreme Court) for saving democracy in these difficult times!"

Following the BJP's resounding victory in the Chandigarh mayoral elections on January 30, which saw them retain all three seats and beat the Congress-AAP coalition, the AAP has petitioned the Supreme Court for new elections. Returning Officer Anil Masih was charged by the AAP with "fraud and forgery" during the election process.

Additionally, a video of Anil Masih marking ballots while peeking at the CCTV became viral. Anil Masih was called by the Supreme Court to appear in person before the bench during the petition hearing. He was questioned about the viral footage by the bench.

To this, Masih replied that all the ballot papers were defaced and he was just marking them. "There were so many cameras that I was just looking at them," he said.

When the bench questioned him about why he had marked the ballots, Anil Masih replied that he had done so to prevent the papers from becoming mixed up. "So you marked it, right? He needs to face legal action. This cannot happen in an elective democracy," the bench said. The Supreme Court rapped the Returning Officer and ordered the production of the ballot papers