Horse Trading A Serious Issue, Officer Must be Prosecuted: SC on Chandigarh Vote-Count Row

In a big development in the Chandigarh vote-count row, the Supreme Court on Monday sought ballot papers used in the January 30 Chandigarh mayoral polls, allegedly rigged by returning officer Anil Masih and ruled that he should be ‘prosecuted’.

Hearing the petition on the alleged irregularities in the election, a day after three AAP councillors switched over to the BJP, the top court said that the ‘horsetrading’ is a serious matter. The apex court further instructed Masih to present himself on Tuesday as well.

Heading the three-juge bench, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ordered that the ballots secured before Punjab and Haryana High Court should be presented before the apex court on Tuesday, February 19.

Meanwhile, BJP Mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned from the post on Sunday night, hours before the Supreme Court was set to hear the matter.

The three Aam Aadmi Party Chandigarh councillors — Punam Devi, Neha Musawat and Gurcharan Kala — joined the BJP in the presence of party National General Secretary Vinod Tawde, in Delhi on Sunday night.

“Chandigarh councillors Punam Devi, Neha Musawat, and Gurcharan Kala have joined BJP today. They are unhappy with the behaviour of their party with them. BJP will respect them and they will help in the development of Chandigarh…” Vinod Tawde said.

Neha Musawat, who joined the BJP, said, “AAP party made false promises to us. Today after getting inspired by the works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I have joined BJP…”

Gurcharan Kala also noted he joined the BJP after getting inspired by PM Modi’s work.

“I belonged to BJP and I will also be with BJP… I have joined the party after getting inspired by the works of PM Modi…” the former AAP councillor said.

Chandigarh Mayoral Polls Row

Manoj Sonkar of BJP had won the Chandigarh mayoral elections on January 30, after eight votes of the INDIA bloc were declared invalid. The Congress-AAP alliance had alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer, a charge which was rubbished by the BJP.

It was alleged by the opposition that Sonkar had won after presiding officer Anil Masih scribbled on ballot papers and invalidated eight votes of the Congress-AAP combine by himself, an act which was purportedly caught on camera.

Following the polls, the Congress-AAP alliance approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking cancellation of the result and holding the Chandigarh mayor elections again.

On February 5, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the presiding officer in the Chandigarh mayoral polls saying it is evident that he defaced the ballot papers.

The apex court made the remarks while hearing an AAP councillor’s plea challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that refused to grant any interim relief to the party seeking fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh.

“Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is a murder of democracy. We are appalled. This man should be prosecuted. Is this the behaviour of the Returning Officer?” CJI DY Chandrachud said.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asked the presiding officer to appear on the next hearing date, February 19.