Punjab & Haryana High Court Issues Notice To UT Admin, Others On Plea Seeking Conduct Of Free & Fair Chandigarh Mayoral Elections

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on Thursday, issued notice on a plea seeking directions to conduct "free fair and transparent elections" to the post of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation which was scheduled for Thursday (January 18, 2024) and postponed citing "law and order" issues.

After considering the submissions a division bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger issued notice to U.T. Chandigarh, Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, DGP and SSP Chandigarh.

Kuldeep Kumar, a candidate contesting for the post of Mayor from Aam Admi Party (AAP) has moved the Court seeking directions to authorities to conduct fair and transparent elections for the post of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, and Deputy Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation which was scheduled for January 18 and later postponed.

It was stated that the Congress party decided to support AAP and therefore Congress candidates decided to withdraw the nominations. Kumar alleged that the BJP supporters tried to kidnap a candidature for the post of Mayor, who has withdrawn his nomination.

"The majority of the Officers, who will be responsible for conducting the election, including the Presiding Officer and the Secretary, Municipal Corporation belongs to Haryana Cadre of Officers, where the Govt. of BJP is in power and they are under the party influence," the plea added.

It was submitted that in an "illegal and arbitrary manner" the respondents requested the Duty Magistrate to restrict the entry of anyone in the MC office in view of the "law and order situation" till further orders are received, consequently, the election which was scheduled today was postponed.

Reliance was placed upon Apex Court Constitutional Bench ruling in  Mohinder Singh Gill vs. Chief Election Commissioner; [(1978) 1 SCC 405] wherein it was held that "large Indian should not be hijacked from the course of free and fair elections by mob muscle methods, or subtle perversion of discretion by men "dressed in little, brief authority" for "be you ever so high, the law is above you."

The Senior Counsel appearing for Municipal Corporation submitted that, "Police commandos from Punjab, accompanied by the candidates who came to withdraw their candidature, went to the MC building. One candidate was allegedly kidnapped, and reports of this incident have been submitted to the UT administration. Now, it is not possible to conduct the election due to the prevailing law and order situation in Chandigarh..."

At this juncture, the court took note of the assurance to "conduct free and fair elections" in the Municipal Corporation which was submitted by the Chandigarh Police before the court last evening  during the hearing of another plea to conduct a "free and fair election."

The senior counsel appearing for the UT administration submitted that, "the picture has gone beyond the canvas. Day before yesterday, a former candidate filed the habeas corpus, and later, the former mayor came to withdraw the candidature. Subsequently, fifty Punjab Police arrived, leading to a scuffle with the Chandigarh police at the MC building, the Presiding Officer fell ill. These are all the reasons why the election cannot be conducted today."

Justice Sudhir Singh orally remarked that the respondents have to show what the law and order situation is and a blanket excuse on "law and order situation" cannot be made.

In light of the above, the Court sought a response from the respondents and deferred the matter to January 23 stating that, "they seek time to get instructions and file the reply."

Case Title: KULDEEP KUMAR VS U.T. CHANDIGARH AND OTHERS

Sr. Advocate Gurminder Singh with Advocates Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, R.P.S. Bara, Advocate, K.S. Kharbanda, Ferry Sofat, Karanbir Singh, Advocate, Manish Kumar Kansal, Advocate, Gurbhej Singh for the petitioner.

Anil Mehta, Sr. Standing Counsel, U.T. Chandigarh assisted by Advoactes Sanjiv Ghai, Sumeet Jain, Himanshu Arora, Pradeep Sharma, and Nishant Indal for respondents No.1 & 2.

Chetan Mittal, Sr. Advocate assisted by Advocates Kunal Mulwani,  Daksh Uppal for respondents No.3 & 4.

Manish Bansal, Public Prosecutor, U.T. Chandigarh assisted Navjit Singh, Advocate for respondents No.5 & 6.