Amid the allegations of vote tampering in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the Supreme Court on Monday passed an order after the hearing, directing to produce the ballot papers and the video recording of the entire vote-counting process in court on Tuesday morning.
During the hearing of the plea, SC expressed grave concerns over possible "horse trading" after three AAP leaders: Neha Musawat, Gurcharan Kala, and Punam Devi also resigned from the party and joined the saffron party. Manoj Sonkar resigned as Chandigarh Mayor on Sunday night, a day before the hearing of the plea.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to appoint a judicial officer to present the records before the court in New Delhi. The ballot papers were placed in the custody of the Registrar General of the High Court.
Anil Masih, the presiding officer of the Chandigarh mayoral polls, was summoned by the SC on Monday where he was asked several questions on his conduct during the elections. CJI DY Chandrachud remarked that he must be prosecuted for marking the ballot papers, after hearing all the sides and questioning him for the allegations against him. However, instead of ordering a fresh election, the court is considering the declaration of results based on the vote cast on January 30. He is asked to be present in the court on Tuesday again.
The controversy began on January 30 after the presiding officer Anil Masih declared eight opposition votes as invalid, which led to the victory of BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar in the mayoral elections. Subsequently, Congress and AAP accused that the presiding officer Anil Masih of defacing the ballot papers during the polls.
“We will list this tomorrow and see the ballot papers and decide what to do. 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,” the CJI said during the hearing.