Today (5th April) Anil Masih, a poll officer, has tendered an unconditional apology before the Supreme Court. This apology comes after the Court noted that Masih had unlawfully altered the course of the election and made false statements during the proceedings
NEW DELHI: Today (5th April): Anil Masih, the former presiding officer of the Chandigarh mayoral polls, has issued an unconditional apology before the Supreme Court for defacing ballot papers. Masih, who faced criticism after a video of him defacing ballot papers went viral, tendered the apology through his counsel, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi.
READ ALSO: Punjab and Haryana High Court Resolves Dispute Over Chandigarh Mayor Election Process
Background
Anil Masih, the Returning Officer (RO), declared the BJP candidate as the winner of the Chandigarh Mayor polls on January 30. However, a video emerged showing Masih defacing eight ballot papers, which were initially declared invalid. The AAP candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, filed a petition alleging fraud in Masih’s decision. The Supreme Court intervened, quashed Masih’s decision, and declared Kumar as the winner of the mayoral polls.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Anil Masih, appeared before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Rohatgi tendered an unconditional apology on behalf of Masih, expressing remorse for his actions.
The Court noted that Masih “unlawfully” changed the outcome of the mayoral election and made a statement before the Court that was clearly untrue.
“We have rendered an unconditional apology. I had a long chat with him. He will withdraw the first affidavit and surrender to the magnanimity of this court. This is an unconditional apology,” the Senior Counsel told the bench.
The matter will be further discussed in July.
The Supreme Court condemned Masih’s conduct and criticized his decision to declare the eight votes for the AAP candidate as invalid.
The court found Masih’s explanation “unsatisfactory” and stated that he had “unlawfully” altered the course of the mayoral election. It also noted that Masih had made “false statements” before the court.
Consequently, the court issued a show-cause notice to Masih, and the matter will be examined more extensively in July.
The Supreme Court expressed distress over the “horse-trading” observed in this development.
The BJP’s candidate, Manoj Sonkar, was initially declared the winner of the Mayor elections. However, the Supreme Court’s intervention resulted in Kuldeep Kumar, the AAP candidate, being declared the rightful winner. It is noteworthy that during the pendency of the case, Sonkar resigned from the post of Mayor, and three AAP councilors defected to the BJP.
CASE TITLE: Kuldeep Kumar vs UT Chandigarh and ors
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