Chandigarh Mayoral Poll: Supreme Court Directs Criminal Prosecution of Returning Officer Anil Masih

The Supreme Court has ordered the criminal prosecution of Anil Masih, the returning officer of the Chandigarh mayoral polls, for his misdemeanour during the counting of votes and for allegedly giving false statements before the court. 

The court declared defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new mayor of the union territory by setting aside the January 30 poll result. The court found that Masih had put marks on eight ballot papers to create a ground for treating them as invalidly cast. 

That apart, it is evident that the presiding officer (Masih) is guilty of serious misdemeanour in doing what he did in his role and capacity as a presiding officer, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

The court also directed the registrar (judicial) of the apex court to issue a notice to Masih to show cause as to why proceedings should not be initiated against him under section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for allegedly making false statements before the court.

It said he can file his response to the notice and the matter would be taken up after three weeks. In its verdict, the Supreme Court bench said Masih’s conduct as the presiding officer has to be deprecated at two levels.

Firstly, by his conduct he has unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election. Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this court on February 19, the presiding officer expressed falsehood for which he must be held accountable, the bench said.

The BJP emerged victorious in the Chandigarh mayoral elections on January 30, securing a win over the AAP-Congress alliance candidate despite controversy. The returning officer invalidated eight votes belonging to the coalition partners, sparking allegations of ballot tampering. Manoj Sonkar of the BJP claimed victory with 16 votes, defeating Kuldeep Kumar, who garnered 12 votes. Following Sonkar's resignation, three AAP councillors switched allegiance to the BJP.

In its verdict, the bench observed that Masih had made a deliberate effort to deface eight ballots which were cast in favour of Kumar to secure a result in which Sonkar would be declared as an elected candidate. During the course of these proceedings, for the above reasons, we have come to the conclusion that the result which was declared by the presiding officer is clearly contrary to law and will have to be set aside. We order accordingly,” it said.