Chandigarh: The Supreme Court has appointed Justice Jaishree Thakur, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as an Independent Observer to oversee the Chandigarh Mayoral Elections slated for January 30. The order came in response to a plea filed by Chandigarh Mayor Kuldeep Kumar of the Aam Aadmi Party, who sought fair conduct of the elections.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh passed the order after hearing both sides. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Municipal Corporation, said that the Corporation had no objections to the appointment of an Independent Observer. The Court ordered that the election proceedings should be conducted in the physical presence of the Observer and be fully videographed so that the proceedings were completely transparent.
In its order, the Court noted: “On the previous date of hearing, we were not so inclined to interfere with the view of the High Court. However, notice was issued for the limited purpose of appointing an Independent Observer to ensure that the election is conducted in a free and fair manner on the scheduled date. In view of the almost unanimous stance taken by both parties, we consider it fit to appoint Ms. Justice Jaishree Thakur as Independent Observer. The election process will be conducted in her physical presence, adequate security arrangements shall be made and the Observer will be entitled to an honorarium.
The plea by Kuldeep Kumar has also demanded election through a “show of hands,” rather than paper ballot, basing its ground on last year’s controversy. For the 2022 Mayoral Elections, candidate Manoj Sonkar from BJP emerged as the lead, securing 16 against the 12 votes for incumbent Kuldeep Kumar. However, Kuldeep Kumar, who was supported by the Congress and AAP, alleged that the Presiding Officer, Anil Masih, had deliberately defaced eight votes cast in his favor, rendering them invalid. Following this, Kuldeep Kumar approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which dismissed his allegations. He then moved the Supreme Court, which on February 20, 2022, set aside the results announced by the Presiding Officer, finding them illegal. The Court held that the Presiding Officer’s actions were deliberate and aimed at altering the election outcome. Consequently, the Supreme Court declared Kuldeep Kumar as the duly elected Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.
In the wake of the controversy earlier, the General House of the Municipal Corporation had apparently passed a resolution to change the mode of voting for the Mayoral election to “show of hands.” However, this resolution was allegedly ignored by the Deputy Commissioner, who decided to conduct the election using ballot papers. Aggrieved by this decision, Kuldeep Kumar approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to quash the election schedule set for January 24.
The High Court directed the rescheduling of the polls after January 29 and allowed Kuldeep Kumar to continue his tenure as Mayor until then. Dissatisfied with the ruling of the High Court, Kuldeep Kumar moved the Supreme Court, which agreed to consider the limited issue of appointing an Independent Observer.
During the hearing, SG Mehta said, “History may not repeat itself every time,” but yielded to the Court’s decision to appoint an Observer. The Supreme Court appointment of Justice Thakur is with the aim that the elections are held in a free and fair manner so that past controversies do not recur.
Justice Thakur will oversee the entire election process through ballot paper, which will be conducted under strict security arrangements and fully videographed for transparency. The decision underscores the commitment of the Court to safeguarding the integrity of democratic processes.