GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court of India today on Monday slammed the Returning Officer of the Chandigarh Mayor elections held last week and said that it is obvious that the Returning Officer has "defaced" the ballot papers.
"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?" Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was quoted as saying.
The SC further ordered the preservation of the entire record of the election process including ballot papers, videography and other material through the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court and directed that the ensuing meeting of the Chandigarh Corporation be deferred until the next date of hearing.
The Chandigarh Mayor Elections got embroiled in controversy as eight votes of the Congress-AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar were declared invalid, which led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to emerge victorious as Manoj Sonkar became Mayor with 16 votes against the 12 votes bagged by the Congress-AAP candidate.
Kuldeep Kumar, who lost the Chandigarh mayoral election, approached the apex court after the High Court refused to grant an immediate stay on election result, even as opposition leaders raised allegations of rigging of the elections, with Congress and AAP attacking the BJP-led central government over the issue.