Chandigarh Mayor polls: AAP Councillor moves Supreme Court after P&H High Court refuses immediate stay

Aam Aadmi Party Councillor Kuldeep Kumar has moved the Supreme Court against Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to grant an immediate stay on election result in which a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was declared elected as Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation..BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was elected as the Mayor on Tuesday after he bagged 16 votes against the 12 votes received by the Congress-AAP candidate Kumar. Eight votes were rejected in the process as invalid.On Kumar’s petition alleging fraud in BJP’s win and forgery in rejection of the eight votes, the High Court on Wednesday only issued notice and listed the matter for hearing after three weeks. With regard to the prayer for stay on the results, the division bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger of the High Court only recorded the submissions of counsel representing the petitioner and respondents.“Considered,” the Court said in the order while proceeding to adjourn the matter to February 26..Soon after the hearing, senior AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the party will move the top court for an early hearing in the matter.“The video is clear. What report does Chandigarh Administration have to give in three weeks,” Mann said while addressing the media..A Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the High Court order was filed Thursday morning.It has been argued that in the SLP that the High Court erred in not granting any interim relief to the petitioner in the form of stay on outcome of elections for the post of Mayor or directing the preservation of electoral records "This is not a case of election dispute, but a case of abuse of public office, which destroys the very essence of faith reposed in the officer and is a constitutional wrong and breach of the doctrine of public trust. The case was so egregious that the High Court ought to have passed interim orders," the plea contends.Thus, the petition before the top court seeks a stay on the operation of the notification that has been or may be issued for appointment of Sonkar as Mayor of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh..Before the High Court, Kumar prayed for fresh election in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired High Court judge.The petition alleged that in complete departure of the practice and rules, the Presiding Officer Anil Masih refused to allow the nominees of parties to monitor the counting of votes.“The Presiding Officer in most flimsy manner addressed to the House that he does not want any assistance from the members nominated by the parties contesting the election and he will count the vote himself. The voices were raised by the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress but their requests were not heeded, but surprisingly the Deputy Commissioner, Respondent No.2 and the Prescribed Authority, who was also in the same capacity in the last year’s election remained mum,” the petition said..The plea further stated that there were three baskets in front of the Presiding Officer - two for the candidates of the AAP-Congress alliance and BJP and one for invalid votes.As per the plea, videos from the election clearly reveal that the Presiding Officer shuffled the votes from one basket to another “only with a view to create a confusion during which he completely compromised the election process by forgery and tampering.”The petition further alleged that the Presiding Officer against all the rules and regulations announced the result that eight votes had been declared invalid but “did not utter a single word for the invalidity of the votes and the party to whom these invalid votes were polled”