Supreme Court appoints former Judge Jaishree Thakur to oversee mayoral elections in Chandigarh

Today, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Kotishwar Singh appointed former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Jaishree Thakur as an independent observer to oversee the mayoral elections in Chandigarh. The Court’s order comes after the incumbent mayor Kuldeep Kumar moved the top court seeking an election by show of hands and with an independent observer. Kumar’s request came in light of vote tampering in the mayoral election in 2024. 

On 20 February 2024, a three-judge bench led by former Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud declared Kuldeep Kumar of the Aam Aadmi Party as the mayor of Chandigarh. The bench had set aside the results declared by the Presiding Officer Anil Masih who was caught on camera tampering with ballot papers. Masih had declared Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Sonkar as Mayor on 30 January 2024. The Court had used its discretionary powers under Article 142 to hear the case. 

In the High Court

The mayoral elections in Chandigarh for 2025 were scheduled to take place on 25 January. Kumar moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, stating that he was declared as Mayor only on 20 February and that an election on 25 January would cut his tenure short by a month. He also sought for the elections to be conducted by a show of hands instead of secret ballots to ensure transparency in the process. 

On 20 January, a Division Bench of the High Court refused to postpone the elections till 20 February and ordered that the election be conducted after 29 January 2025. They also refused the request to conduct the elections by a show of hands. 

Following the High Court’s order, the mayoral elections in Chandigarh are now scheduled to take place on 30 January. Kuldeep Kumar then moved the Supreme Court seeking an independent observer to oversee the elections. He pleaded with the Court to reconsider his request to conduct the vote by show of hands. 

In Court today

Senior Advocate Gurminder Singh, Advocate General of Punjab, appeared for Kuldeep Kumar. On 24 January, Singh had argued that elections by show of hands would help avoid the “fiasco” created last year. 

Today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation argued that “history may not repeat itself”, suggesting that tampering may not occur again, and an independent observer may not be needed. He also argued that this would open the doors for other municipal corporations to approach the Court with a similar plea. That said, he added that he had no objection to the appointment of an independent observer. 

The bench stated that they would not interfere with the High Court’s order of conducting the elections but decided to appoint an independent observer to observe the elections. They also held that the entire process must be videotaped.

As the hearing ended, the judges refrained from announcing the name of the observer in open court, stating that they needed time to deliberate. 

In the Order published later, the bench named Justice Jaishree Thakur, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to this position and tasked her with overseeing the upcoming mayoral elections in the Union Territory. The Order also directed that the UT’s administration must pay her an honorarium of Rs. 1,00,000 within a week for her services. 

The Court clarified that it had “no doubt at all on the objectivity, independence, or fairness of the authorities. However, the proposal to appoint an independent observer was mooted having regard to the apprehension expressed by the petitioner.”