New Delhi: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday said the great stabilising force in this country is the purity of the electoral process and “we will not allow democracy to be murdered like this…” while directing the entire record about the election of the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to be sequestered under the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The apex court directed the Returning Officer (RO) Anil Masih to remain present before it on the next date of listing to explain his conduct as it appears in the video.
A three-judge bench led by CJI and comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging the High Court’s refusal to grant an immediate stay on the election result in which a BJP candidate was declared elected as the Chandigarh Mayor.
During the hearing, senior advocate AM Singhvi and advocate Shadan Farasat, representing the petitioner, urged the apex court to issue notice and also issue direction to preserve those ballots, video and all the material he had as the RO and stressed that RO is active working member of a political party which is opposed to his client’s party and urged the bench to see the video.
“He says eight are disqualified. My 20 becomes 12….we went to the High Court, which did not preserve the ballot and gave notice of three weeks…..please see the video”, said Singhvi, adding that the RO ran away with the ballot papers. Singhvi said this was not CCTV, but court-ordered videography, while the bench examined the video. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appeared on behalf of the Returning Officer, and senior advocate Maninder Singh, represented a respondent in the matter.
The CJI, looking at Mehta and Singh, asked what is the RO doing and it was obvious he had defaced the ballot, “this man has to be prosecuted and why is he looking at the camera”. Mehta urged the court to watch the entire video before forming an opinion. “Solicitor, this is a mockery of democracy, this is murdering democracy. Is this the way he conducts an election? We are appalled by what has happened. Simply appalled…is this behaviour of a Returning Officer”, the CJI said.
“Looks (RO) at the camera and defaces the ballot and where there is a cross at the bottom, he 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. Please tell your RO 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….what has happened here…..”, said the CJI.
Mehta said the court has only seen one side of the picture and not the entire picture. The CJI told Mehta to produce the entire video before the court. Singh cited the regulations. “We are not going by the regulations. We want our conscience to be satisfied, otherwise, hold a fresh election and we will direct who the returning officer shall be…why is he looking at the camera, he should be doing his duty and then quietly defacing the ballot”, said the CJI.
The Punjab government counsel said this very man got admitted to the hospital and the election was cancelled they rescheduled the election under the High Court order, and this person is still nominated. Singhvi this can be solved by a new election soon after sequestering the records.
Mehta submitted that the Returning Officer had handed over the entire record in a sealed format to the Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh, on January 30, 2024. After hearing submissions, the apex court, in its order, said: “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, to protect the purity and sanctity of the electoral process”.
“We direct that the entire record pertaining to the election of the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall be sequestered under the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. This shall include: The ballot papers; videography of the entire electoral process; and all other material in the custody of the Returning Officer”, said the bench, adding that this exercise shall be carried out forthwith by 5 pm this evening.
“The Returning Officer shall remain present before this court on the next date of listing to explain his conduct as it appears in the video...the Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh, shall comply with the above direction by handing over the entirety of the record to the Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana for safekeeping and custody. The ensuing meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, which is to take place on February 7, 2024, shall stand deferred, pending further orders of this court. List the Special Leave Petition on February 19, 2024”, said the apex court.
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