Chandigarh/New Delhi: The country's highest court, the Supreme Court, has delivered a historic and strict judgment regarding Punjab's local body elections. The Supreme Court has completely set aside the elections across 50 municipal wards in Punjab and issued clear orders to conduct fresh elections in all these wards within the next 6 weeks. The court took this firm step after the completion of an inquiry into widespread irregularities, use of muscle power, and allegations of forcibly driving opposition candidates out of the electoral contest during the nomination phase.

Which wards are affected:

Out of the 50 wards affected by this Supreme Court decision, the largest share belongs to Patiala Municipal Corporation.

Patiala Municipal Corporation: 28 wards

Moga District: 22 wards, which include 15 wards of Baghapurana Municipal Council and 7 wards of Dharamkot Municipal Council.

The apex court fully accepted the reports and facts submitted by the court-appointed Fact-Finding Commission and declared the election process across all these 50 wards vitiated.

Revelations of severe intimidation during the nomination process:

The inquiry report submitted by the Fact-Finding Commission appointed by the court exposed widespread obstructions created during the filing of nominations. The report clearly recorded that in several places, nomination papers of opposition candidates were forcibly snatched, torn, or destroyed. In addition, candidates faced assaults, illegal detentions, and death threats forcing them to stay away from the election process.

In Patiala, the commission found a total of 13 wards where opposition candidates were prevented from filing nomination papers, leaving these elections entirely vitiated. These are ward numbers 1, 12, 32, 33, 36, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 50, 51, and 52. Besides these, there were 14 other wards in Patiala where specific opposition candidates were forcibly kept from contesting. These are ward numbers 4, 6, 14, 16, 22, 26, 28, 37, 38, 40, 46, 53, 55, and 57. Similarly, re-polling will take place in ward number 34 because an individual named Gaurav Kumar was prevented from submitting his nomination form. The commission also recorded serious evidence of large-scale bogus voting, multiple voting by individuals, and voter intimidation in ward numbers 15 and 58 of Patiala.

In Dharamkot of Moga district, the commission found ward numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 13 vitiated due to forcible obstruction of nominations, coerced withdrawal of papers, or wrongful rejection of nomination filings. On the other hand, in Baghapurana, all 15 wards saw the use of similar unlawful tactics, leading to a recommendation to completely set aside the elections there.

Strict judicial monitoring framework for fresh polls:

To ensure free and fair elections, the Supreme Court has laid down a strict oversight mechanism. The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been directed to constitute a special monitoring committee headed by a retired High Court judge within one week. Two to three senior members of the High Court Bar Association will act as independent observers on this committee.

The Supreme Court directed that mandatory videography must be carried out for the entire process, including the filing of nomination papers, scrutiny of forms, allocation of election symbols, and the voting exercise. The Punjab government will have to place ward-wise details before the court regarding deployed election officers and police officials of DSP rank or above. The fresh election schedule will be notified only after the monitoring committee is set up. Furthermore, results will not be treated as final immediately after the counting of votes; instead, final declarations will be made only after the Chief Justice of the High Court is satisfied that the entire exercise was conducted in a free and fair manner.

This ruling is being viewed as a major and historic judicial intervention in the history of local elections in Punjab, placing the entire process from nomination to results under judicial oversight to protect democratic rights.