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AAP moves HC, demands fresh polling for Chandigarh mayoral election
By Tuesday afternoon, a request for an urgent listing was placed before the bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Lapita Banerji by senior advocate and Punjab’s advocate general Gurminder Singh. However, the court did not agree for a hearing on Tuesday itself and ordered that it be listed on Wednesday morning
The intense commotion during the Chandigarh mayoral polls on Tuesday was followed by INDIA bloc candidate Kuldeep Dhalor challenging the election results before the Punjab and Haryana high court.
By Tuesday afternoon, a request for an urgent listing was placed before the bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Lapita Banerji by senior advocate and Punjab’s advocate general Gurminder Singh. However, the court did not agree for a hearing on Tuesday itself and ordered that it be listed on Wednesday morning.
Through the plea, Dhalor, an AAP councillor, has demanded that the elections be held afresh under the supervision of a retired high court judge, as the elections on Tuesday were “a result of complete fraud and forgery” laid upon the democratic process by the respondents, especially the presiding officer.
The plea further demands that an investigation be ordered into Tuesday’s election process by an independent agency and as an interim measure, authorities be told to seal and preserve the record of ballot papers and videography of the election process.
The plea says councillors were not associated with counting process. “The presiding officer in the 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 votes himself. AAP and Congress raised their voice against this, but their requests were not heeded. Surprisingly the deputy commissioner, respondent number 2 and the prescribed authority, who was in the same capacity in last year’s election, remained mum. The joint commissioner, who was the so-called MC secretary for the purpose of holding the election, also did not object and remained mum,” the plea alleges.
It further claims that after sometime the presiding officer, against all rules and regulations, announced that eight votes have been declared invalid. He did not utter a single word about the invalidity of the votes and the party to whom these invalid votes were polled, it further adds.
