What Supreme Court said on Chandigarh Mayoral Election and 'Tainted' Anil Masih | 10 Points

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the Aam Aadmi Party's Kuldeep Kumar the winner of last month's Chandigarh mayoral election. The apex court also initiated criminal proceedings under Section of 340 CrPC against the returning officer, Anil Masih, a BJP leader for making false a statement before the court. Masih was caught on camera deliberately invalidating and discarding eight votes polled in Kumar’s favour.

Here are the highlights of Tuesday's proceedings:

1. "We direct that the election result by the presiding officer (Masih) is quashed. The AAP candidate is declared to be the winner of the Chandigarh mayoral polls," remarked the bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
2. The bench, in its order, noted that the candidate who had earlier succeeded in the polls has tendered resignation. “We are of the view that setting aside the entire election process is inappropriate as the only infirmity is found in the counting process. Setting aside of the entire election process will compound the destruction of the democratic principles which happened due to the conduct of the Presiding Officer," the court observed.
3. "We have a considered view that this court is duty bound under Article 142 to do complete justice and ensure the process of electoral democracy is not allowed to be thwarted by such subterfuges,” the bench observed.
4. "The conduct of the Presiding Officer (Masih) has to be deprecated at two levels. Firstly, he has unlawfully altered the course of Mayoral election. Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this Court on 19 Feb, the Presiding Officer expressed falsehood for which he must be held accountable," the Court stated.
5. The apex court said that Masih could not have been unmindful of making a statement which was false and directed the registrar judicial to issue showcause notice to Masih as to why steps should not be initiated against him under section 340 Cr.P.C.
6. The bench strongly reacted to Masih 'misdemeanour' and said he "cannot be unmindful of the consequences of making a statement which prima facie appears to be false to his knowledge". "The registrar judicial is accordingly directed to issue notice show cause to Masih….to show cause us to why action should not be initiated against him under Section 340," the court observed.
7. The apex court said the notice should be returnable after three weeks and Masih will have an opportunity to file his response to the notice.
8. The apex court used its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice to quash the election results, which declared the BJP as winner to the poll held on January 30.
9. After physically inspecting the ballots, the apex court found that the 8 ballots had votes in favour of the AAP councillor. The Presiding Officer had put a one-line mark at the end of these eight ballots. In his statement before the Supreme Court on Monday, Masih claimed that he had put these marks since these ballots were already defaced and so he wanted to segregate them. However, the Court on Tuesday found his statement to be false, as the ballots were not defaced.
10. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Masih, said his client was declaring the votes, and they had snatched away the ballots. Justice Pardiwala said, "Yesterday, he admitted that he ticked the ballots. We have seen in the video that after the declaration of results, the commotion happened…Why did he tick the ballots?" queried the bench. Rohatgi said that his client’s assessment during the Chandigarh mayoral election may be right or wrong but it is wrong to call him a thief and he is not a fugitive.

Read More

1. SC Sets Aside Chandigarh Mayoral Poll Result, Declares AAP Candidate The Winner