‘Murder of democracy’ clamoured the Supreme Court while considering a petition filed by AAP about the alleged tampering by the presiding officer in the Chandigarh Mayor elections. The Supreme Court took note of the video and found irregularities, mostly, the crooked sneak by the officer at the camera which irked the SC to unleash a tirade of criticism at the government.

Observing that democracy was butchered in Chandigarh, the court asked BJP leader Anil Massey, the presiding officer to face prosecution.

The tense contest for the mayor's post in Chandigarh was between the BJP and the Congress-Aam Aadmi alliance. The presiding officer declared BJP leader Manoj Sonkar as the winner (16-12) after defacing eight ballot votes of the APP-congress alliance.

However, all fraud was brought to light by the CCTV camera placed near the officer’s desk. In the video footage, it was clear that the presiding officer who tampered with the ballots and deliberately invalidated them, looked at the camera from time to time in fear to see if anyone was watching his devious work.

The Supreme Court has directed the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to collect all relevant documents, including ballot papers and video footage of the mayoral election, which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Presiding officer Anil Massey should appear in person on the 19th of this month when the case will be reheard.

At the same time, the Supreme Court has also criticized the High Court for not taking immediate action on the petition of the opposing candidate Kuldeep Kumar, who had earlier cited irregularities. Instead of issuing an interim order, which would have been necessary to protect the integrity and credibility of the election process, the High Court sent a notice to the presiding officer and adjourned the case for consideration after three weeks.

Presiding Officer Anil Massey, who is now caught in the web of controversy is a nominated BJP councillor and General Secretary of the BJP Minority Morcha in Chandigarh. The mayor election in Chandigarh was decisive for the I.N.D.I. alliance for being its first political test.

Political parties often engage in shrewd tactics to win favour or votes in elections. But here, the conduct of the presiding officer is a mockery of democratic standards, and when considered on some level seems to be extremely dangerous. A fair judgment from the Supreme Court is much awaited by all.