Chandigarh mayoral row: Returning officer to be prosecuted, orders Supreme Court
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also asked the deputy commissioner to appoint a new returning officer who is not associated to any political party.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Monday (February 19) ordered the prosecution of returning officer Anil Masih in the Chandigarh Mayor election that was held on January 30, and said that he was interfering with the election process.
Conducting a hearing on a petition on the alleged irregularities in the election on Monday, a day after three AAP councillors switched over to the BJP, the Supreme Court also said that the "horestrading" that is going on is a serious matter. He went on to say that Masih, the returning officer, must face legal action and appear in court on Tuesday.
On Monday, the bench asked him about the video and why was he looking into the CCTV. To this, the 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. The bench then asked him why did he mark the ballot papers, Anil Masih said he did it so that ballot papers do not get mixed.
Hearing a petition alleging foul play in the mayoral election, the bench also asked the deputy commissioner to appoint a new returning officer who is not associated to any political party.
On January 30, Manoj Sonkar of the BJP became victorious in the Chandigarh mayoral elections following the invalidation of eight votes cast by the INDIA bloc. The BJP refuted the allegations made by the Congress-AAP coalition that the presiding officer had tampered with the ballots.
The opposition claimed that Sonkar had won because Anil Masih, the presiding officer, had written on ballot papers and declared eight votes from the Congress-AAP combo invalid on his own. This conduct was allegedly captured on video.
Following the polls, the Congress-AAP coalition filed a request for the results to be overturned and new elections for Chandigarh's mayor to be held before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Chandigarh mayoral vote presiding officer was severely criticized by the Supreme Court on February 5, stating that it was obvious he had tampered with the ballots.
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