A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also asked the deputy commissioner to appoint a new returning officer who is not associated to any political party.
The Supreme Court has ordered the production of the ballot papers and video of the counting of votes in Chandigarh mayoral polls by 2 pm on Tuesday. The court also rapped the Returning Officer who presided over the polls, saying that he must be prosecuted for “defacing ballot papers”.
Hearing a petition alleging foul play in the mayoral election, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also asked the deputy commissioner to appoint a new returning officer who was not associated with any political party.
“We are pained by the horse-trading which has happened in Chandigarh assembly,” the bench said.
“This business of horse-trading should be stopped and that is why we want to see the ballot papers tomorrow itself,” it added.
The BJP swept the January 30 Chandigarh mayoral polls, retaining all three posts, and defeating the Congress-AAP alliance. The AAP then moved the Supreme Court demanding fresh polls, accusing Returning Officer Anil Masih of “fraud and forgery” in the election process.
A video also went viral showing Anil Masih ticking the ballot papers while glancing at the CCTV, raising concerns about the fairness of the elections.
The Supreme Court had summoned Anil Masih to physically appear before the bench during the hearing. On Monday, the bench asked him about the video and why he was looking into the CCTV.
To this, the Masih replied that all the ballot papers were defaced and he was just marking them. “There were so many cameras that I was just looking at them,” he said.
