“This Court has consistently held that free and fair elections are a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Elections at the local participatory level act as a microcosm of the largest democratic structure in the country… ensuring a free and fair electoral process throughout this process, therefore, is imperative to maintain the legitimacy of and trust in representative democracy.” So said the Supreme Court of India in Kuldeep Kumar vs Union Territory of Chandigarh and Others — otherwise known as the Chandigarh Mayor’s election case.
Though the Court has said the same or similar words in a number of its judgments in the past, the Chandigarh judgment, which was pronounced on February 20, 2024, by the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, and his brother Judges, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, has taken on a new resonance. It is the context of this judgment that imparts great significance to these words.
