New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday said it would appoint a retired high court judge as independent observer to ensure “free and fair election” to the mayor’s post in Chandigarh, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra.
The court rejected AAP leader and Chandigarh mayor Kuldeep Kumar’s plea for a full one-year term from Feb 20, 2024, when the SC had declared him elected by quashing the election of BJP’s Manoj Sonkar after detecting malpractices by the returning officer who forged ballot papers during counting of votes. While ordering that the mayor’s poll would be held as scheduled on Jan 30, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh issued notice to the Chandigarh administration on Kumar’s plea for appointment of an independent observer to ensure free and fair election.
The bench sought the Chandigarh administration’s response by Monday to Kumar’s petition, which claimed that though the municipal corporation had passed a resolution for voting through show of hands to avoid discrepancy or malpractice, the administration acted contrary to the resolution and notified voting through secret ballot. “We will appoint a retired HC judge as independent observer to ensure free and fair election,” the bench said while posting further hearing on Monday. The SC also said the election process would continue unhindered by the pendency of the petition in the SC, which means candidates can file their nomination papers.
