SC OVERTURNS C'GARH MAYOR POLL RESULTS

Declares AAP candidate winner; orders prosecution of returning officer

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In a landmark step, the Supreme Court on Tuesday got the votes polled in Chandigarh mayor election, held in January, counted before the bench and declared Aam Aadmi Party candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the elected Mayor of Chandigarh. The court has also ordered the prosecution of the returning officer Anil Masih, for his "misconduct" after finding serious lapses in the declaration of the January 30 election results.

The top court made it clear that it was not quashing the entire electoral process and was not limiting itself to dealing with the malpractices in the counting process which led to the invalidation of eight votes cast in favour of Kuldeep Kumar.

A bench comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra, said it was clear that Masih made a deliberate attempt to mutilate the eight ballot papers.

The BJP had earlier won the mayor's post by defeating the AAP-Congress alliance candidate after allegations of tampering with ballot papers arose after the returning officer declared eight votes of alliance partners invalid.

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Manoj Sonkar defeated Kuldeep Kumar to get the mayor's post by getting 16 votes against his rival's 12 votes. However, Sonkar later resigned, while three AAP councilors have joined the BJP.

During the hearing the court has said that it will itself investigate the ballot paper marked by the presiding officer Anil Masih in the election.

The court will also examine the video footage of the case. The court said that the presiding officer did not follow the rules. The marks marked by him will be ignored and the votes will be counted. After this it has become clear that the mayor elections will not be held again.