Chandigarh Mayoral Elections: SC to Hear AAP Councillor’s Plea for Urgent Hearing

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider a plea of an AAP councillor seeking an urgent hearing to challenge a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that denied interim relief to the party, which sought fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh.

The matter was brought before a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing councillor Kuldeep Kumar, a contender for the mayor’s position. Singhvi asserted that the returning officer was caught on video tampering with the ballots.

“We will list it… we will look at it,” the bench, including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stated.

In the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the BJP secured victory, retaining all three posts, dealing a blow to the Congress-AAP alliance that claimed ballot paper tampering by the presiding officer.

On Wednesday, a division bench of Justices Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bunger of the high court declined interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which alleged ballot paper tampering and sought fresh polls under the supervision of a retired judge. The high court issued notices to the Chandigarh administration, the municipal corporation, presiding officer Anil Masih, and newly-elected mayor Manoj Sonkar, among others, directing them to file replies within three weeks.

AAP councillor Kumar filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the denial of interim relief, with the plea scheduled for listing after three weeks. The high court adjourned the matter until February 26.

According to the plea filed in the high court, the AAP candidate seeks directions for holding fresh polls in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired judge to ensure “no malpractice.” The plea alleges that the election was not conducted fairly, citing gross violations during the vote count, tampering with ballot papers, and their invalid declaration in favor of the BJP against the AAP and Congress alliance.

The petitioner calls for an investigation by an independent agency into the “entire fraud” committed during the election process. Additionally, the petitioner requests directions to seal, preserve, and present the entire election process, including the record of ballot papers, proceedings, and videography, before the high court. The petitioner also seeks directions to restrain the newly-elected mayor from performing his functions due to the alleged fraud in the election process.