The Supreme Court on Monday said it is “deeply concerned about the horse-trading taking place” post the controversial Chandigarh mayoral elections, and summoned the entire records and video of the polls held on January 30.
The court directive came after it observed that Returning Officer Anil Masih “has to be prosecuted” for interfering with electoral democracy by “defacing” eight ballot papers, which swung the results in favour of the BJP.
BJP’s winning candidate Manoj Sonkar has resigned as Mayor ahead of the top court hearing on February 19. However, the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud took note of media reports that three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors from Chandigarh had since then joined the BJP.
