2 Feb 2024 5:40 AM GMT
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday (February 2) agreed to consider a request for urgent listing of the petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging the Chandigarh Mayor election result.
Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the petition seeking urgent hearing. CJI asked Singhvi to send an email request and said that he will examine at 1 PM.
The AAP councillor has approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the High Court to list his petition after three weeks without granting an immediate stay of the results.
He moved the High Court alleging vote tampering in the Chandigarh Mayor Elections, where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar emerged victorious on Tuesday. The BJP candidate secured 16 votes against the 12 votes received by Kuldeep Kumar, the candidate backed by Congress and AAP. The Presiding Officer rejected 8 votes as invalid.
He sought setting aside of the impugned election result "as the same is a result of complete fraud and forgery laid upon the democratic process" and prayed for holding of fresh elections in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired High Court Judge.
On January 31, the High Court denied his prayer to dissolve the functioning of the office until further orders. "Whether counting was proper, whether procedure was followed or not…These are all questions of facts," it reasoned.