Supreme Court Demands Answers from Returning Officer in Chandigarh Mayoral Election Dispute, Seeks Defaced Ballot Papers and Complete Video Recording

The Supreme Court on Monday has asked for the ballot papers used during the Chandigarh Mayoral elections that were defaced by returning officer Anil Masih. The court has ordered a judicial officer from Punjab to bring the ballots, and the complete video recording of the counting process to the court at 2 pm on Tuesday. The returning officer has also been asked to be present.

Taking heed of the defacement of the ballot papers in the Chandigarh mayoral election, the Supreme Court stated that the returning officer, Anil Masih, should face prosecution. The Apex Court sought a clarification from Anil Masih for his act and noted that this is the first instance in independent India's history where a Chief Justice has cross-examined a returning officer. The Supreme Court had previously observed that the returning officer's act of defacing the ballot papers was the "murder" and a "mockery" of democracy.

“This is a very serious matter. Why were you looking into the camera and putting marks on the ballot paper?” said CJI DY Chandrachud referring to a video clip of the CCTV footage of Masih writing on the ballot papers that went viral on social media. The panel comprising of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra remarked that it was evident that the returning officer had “defaced the ballot papers.”

The SC instructed the officials to provide the complete video recording of the Chandigarh Mayor polls' counting day for the upcoming hearing on Tuesday, expressing deep concern over the matter. “This whole business of horse trading which is going on is very disturbing. Let the entire video of counting of the votes be also produced tomorrow noon,” said CJI DY Chandrachud.

However, the Supreme Court refused to hold fresh elections for the Chandigarh mayoral polls. Instead, it suggested that the election results should be declared after recounting the votes, irrespective of any marks made by Anil Masih. The recounting will take place with a new returning officer devoid of any political affiliations, under the supervision of the registrar general of the High Court.

During the Chandigarh mayoral election counting on January 30, eight votes were disqualified by returning officer Anil Masih, leading to the defeat of the AAP's mayoral candidate by Manoj Sonkar of the BJP by a margin of four votes. The AAP alleged that the returning officer, a member of the BJP's minority cell, intentionally invalidated the votes. A video surfaced showing Anil Masih marking the ballot papers of some AAP councillors while being recorded on camera.