In a stunning turn of events, the Supreme Court declared Aam Aadmi Party councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the new Mayor of Chandigarh following an investigation into voter fraud. The court found that the Returning Officer had defaced ballot papers in an attempt to sway the results in favor of the opposing candidate. The decision was made under the constitutional power of Article 142 after it was revealed that women were being denied employment after getting married, a practice deemed "coarse" and unconstitutional by the court.
The Supreme Court has overturned the decision of Returning Officer (RO) Anil Masih to declare a BJP candidate as Chandigarh Mayor and has declared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the winner. This comes after the Court rejected RO Masih's explanation on why he declared eight votes for AAP candidate invalid. The Court also strongly condemned RO Masih's conduct and issued a show cause notice against him for making a false statement.
The Indian Supreme Court expressed shock and strong criticism towards the way the Chandigarh mayor election was held on February 05, 2024. In the hearing, the Court commented on the incident as a "murder of democracy" and a "mockery of democracy". The case was brought to the Court by AAP member Kuldeep Kumar Singh, who alleged manipulation in the election process and accused a BJP nominated member of tampering with ballots and invalidating votes from the opposition. The election was won by the BJP candidate, but the Court's remarks raise concerns over the fairness and legitimacy of the results.
BJP leader Manoj Sonkar was elected as the new Mayor of Chandigarh on Tuesday, beating Congress-AAP candidate Kuldeep Tita by 4 votes. Opposition leaders alleged rigging as 8 votes were declared invalid. However, Sonkar and the presiding authority denied any wrongdoing and blamed the accusations on the losing parties. The polling process was supervised by the Municipal Corporation Deputy Commissioner and began at 10 am.