Following the Supreme Court's decision to declare Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the winner of the Chandigarh Mayoral polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed gratitude to the apex court for "saving democracy in difficult times." Kejriwal conveyed his appreciation in a post on social media platform X.
"Thank you SC for saving democracy in these difficult times!" Kejriwal wrote on X.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, overturned the decision of Returning Officer Anil Masih, who had declared BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Sonkar as Chandigarh Mayor on January 30. The court found that Masih deliberately defaced eight ballots cast in favor of Kuldeep Kumar to invalidate them. However, upon physical examination, the court determined that the ballots were not defaced.
Consequently, the court directed that Kuldeep Kumar be elected as mayor with 20 votes, comprising the 12 votes he received and the eight previously invalidated votes. The bench quashed the election result declared by the Returning Officer and declared AAP candidate Kumar as the winner of the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
Furthermore, the court instructed the Registrar Judicial to issue a notice to Anil Masih for perjury proceedings under Section 340 CrPC, citing his false statement regarding the defaced ballots. The bench criticized Masih for unlawfully altering the course of the mayoral election. During the hearing, the apex court highlighted that eight ballots were cast in favor of the AAP mayoral candidate.