Anil Masih admitted to marking an "X" on eight "defaced" ballot papers

The Supreme Court, taking a stringent stance on the alleged defacement of ballot papers during the recent Chandigarh mayoral polls, said the presiding officer, Anil Masih, should be prosecuted. This marks the first instance in independent India”s history where a returning officer was cross-examination by the Chief Justice.

Responding to inquiries from the judges, Masih admitted to marking an “X” on eight “defaced” ballot papers, attributing the disruption to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors who allegedly caused chaos and attempted to seize the ballots. He claimed that his attention was diverted to the CCTV camera at the counting centre due to this disturbance.

During the hearing, held the day after three AAP councillors defected to the BJP, the Supreme Court also expressed grave concern over the ongoing “horsetrading.” The top court has summoned the ballot papers for examination on Tuesday.

During the mayoral election tally on January 30, eight votes were invalidated by returning officer Anil Masih, resulting in the victory of Manoj Sonkar of the BJP over the AAP”s mayoral candidate by a margin of four votes. The AAP alleged deliberate invalidation of votes by Masih, who is associated with the BJP”s minority cell.

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which lost the mayoral election, accused Masih of election rigging and demanded his arrest for alleged “tampering” with ballot papers. A video surfaced showing Masih marking ballot papers of AAP councillors while facing the camera, prompting the Supreme Court to condemn his actions as a “mockery of democracy” during a hearing on February 5.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, heard a petition filed by AAP Councillor Kuldeep Kumar, the defeated mayoral candidate, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court”s refusal to stay the election results.

The BJP emerged victorious, dealing a blow to the AAP-Congress alliance, which had viewed the election as a pivotal test for the INDIA bloc. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar secured 16 votes, defeating AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar with 12 votes, while eight votes were declared invalid. With 14 councillors, the BJP holds the majority in the 35-member corporation, followed by AAP with 13, and Congress with seven. Sonkar resigned late last evening ahead of today”s Supreme Court hearing.