Why Supreme Court has called Chandigarh mayoral polls a 'murder of democracy'

The Chandigarh mayoral election controversy that erupted last week has reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Monday rapped the returning officer who conducted the recent Chandigarh mayoral polls, observing it was obvious he defaced the ballot papers and that he should be prosecuted, adding his action amounted to “murder and mockery” of democracy. A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud was hearing the petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-Congress combine candidate for the mayor’s post, Kuldeep Kumar, who lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Sonkar after the returning officer declared eight votes of the alliance invalid. CJI Chandrachud added that it will not allow democracy to be murdered like this and that the apex court will order fresh elections if not satisfied with the purity of the poll process. Here’s what happened and why the CJI made such strong observations on the controversy. What happened? A bench, also consisting of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed annoyance after watching a video of the electoral proceedings that was widely shared on social media. The video drew massive criticism from the AAP and its allies in Punjab. The video showed Presiding Officer Anil Masih, a member of the BJP’s Minority Cell, sitting by himself at a bench with a bunch of ballot papers before him. As the video plays, Masih appears to gesture a few (unseen) persons away from his desk. He then signs his name at the bottom of some of the ballot papers and writes on some of them. He doesn’t write on every piece of paper, as per NDTV. According to the AAP, Masih deliberately scribbled on eight of their councillor’s votes, making them invalid lowering the party candidate’s total, and giving the BJP the advantage. Masih’s actions were denounced by the AAP and the Congress, with the latter accusing the BJP of destroying certain voting papers in order to conceal the allegedly illegal activity. The BJP has rubbished these allegations. One of the AAP councillors moved the top court challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that refused to grant any interim relief to the party seeking fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh. What did the Court say? After watching the video, CJI Chandrachud, referring to returning officer Anil Masih, said, “What is he doing? It is obvious that he has defaced the ballot… This man has to be prosecuted. This is a mockery of democracy. It’s murdering democracy. Is this the way he conducts an election? We are appalled by what has happened. We are simply appalled by what has happened.” “Is this behaviour of a returning officer? (He) Looks at the camera, faces the ballot and then obviously where there is a cross at the bottom, he just keeps it in the tray. The moment there is a cross at the top, the man defaces the ballot and looks at the camera to see who is looking at him,” PTI quoted him as saying. “Please tell your returning officer that the Supreme Court is watching… And we will not allow democracy to be murdered like this. The only thing, the great stabilising force in this country, is the purity of the electoral process, but what has happened here!,” the CJI said as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the bench to not form an opinion without taking all facts into account. Mehta said, “Your Lordships have seen only one side of the picture.” At the following hearing, the CJI ordered that the full video be shown in court, and Mehta agreed. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for newly elected mayor Sonkar, sought to draw the court’s attention to some regulations regarding conduct of the election, but the CJI said, “We are not going to go by the regulations. We want our conscience to be satisfied. Otherwise hold a fresh election. We will direct who the returning officer shall be. Conduct a fresh election.” However, Mehta again urged the bench not to “form an opinion based on something said very selectively,” to which the CJI replied, “Why is he (returning officer) looking at the camera like a fugitive? He has to be doing his duty. He looks at the camera and quietly he defaces the ballot.” Senior Advocate AM Singhvi, who appeared for Kumar, said the issue could be resolved by holding fresh elections after sequestering the records. The bench agreed to the request. The apex court was also critical of the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court did not pass any interim order keeping in mind the facts of the case. What happens next? The three-judge bench has ordered that the meeting of the newly elected body scheduled for 7 February be deferred pending further orders. It also asked returning officer Anil Masih to be present before the court on 19 February, when it will hear the matter again, “to explain his conduct as it appears in the video.” The court said in its order, “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.” “We direct that the entire records pertaining to the election of the mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be sequestered under the custody of the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This shall include the ballot papers, videography of the entire electoral process and all other material in the custody of the returning officer.” Mehta claimed that the Deputy Commissioner, Union Territory of Chandigarh, had previously received them in a sealed format on January 30 from the returning officer. The bench then ordered that the Deputy Commissioner give the Registrar General of the High Court all records for custody and safekeeping. For those unversed, the election proceedings were to be videotaped, as the High Court had earlier ordered. The court directed that the “entire records pertaining to the election of the mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation” be kept in the custody of the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court by 5 pm Monday. How did the AAP and Congress react? The AAP and the Congress hailed the court observations, saying it was a “tight slap” on the face of the BJP. Speaking to reporters, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said the Supreme Court observed that what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral elections was a mockery of democracy. “The entire nation witnessed the working style of the BJP on January 30. It not only disrespected the mandate of the people of Chandigarh but also hurt the faith of all citizens in our democracy,” Kang said, adding that it has restored the faith of the people in democracy and the judicial system. “It is a tight slap on the face of the BJP. People will remember this and will give the BJP a befitting reply in the general elections,” the chief spokesperson of the AAP’s Punjab unit said. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the rap by the court showed that “democracy was murdered”, asserting that people will give a befitting reply. Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in his post on X said, “Hon’ble SC’s observation regarding the botched up Chandigarh Mayor elections that it was a mockery of democracy further vindicated the accusations against the @BJP4India of rigging elections.” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak welcomed the observations, saying it is because of such decisions that people’s “hopes are pinned on the legal system.” With inputs from PTI