Returning Officer who defaced ballots in Chandigarh Mayoral polls tenders unconditional apology in SC

Anil Masih, the Returning Officer who had “defaced the ballots” in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court tendering an unconditional apology for his controversial conduct.

On Friday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Masih, apprised a bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud that the returning officer has filed a fresh affidavit expressing a “completely unconditional” apology.

Without expressing anything on merits, the Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, posted the matter in July for further consideration.

In February this year, the Supreme Court set aside the election of the BJP candidate and declared AAP Councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

Observing that Masih is guilty of a serious misdemeanour for deliberately defacing eight ballot papers, the CJI-headed bench issued him notice for initiating action under Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).