Chandigarh, Feb 20 (IANS): Setting aside the election of the BJP candidate as declared by the Returning Officer, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declared AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar as the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation during the hearing of the contentious Chandigarh mayoral election case.

The apex court was dealing with a plea filed by INDIA bloc’s mayoral candidate Kuldeep Kumar accusing Returning Officer Anil Masih of allegedly "defacing the ballots" during the Chandigarh mayoral polls held on January 30. Kumar had accused the Returning Officer of resorting to fraud and forgery in the counting process.

Reacting to the development, Kumar said that it is a victory of democracy and the residents of Chandigarh.

As the apex court gave the verdict, celebrations broke out at the AAP office here.

During the hearing, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud ordered that the votes cast during the polls be counted again, treating the ballots defaced by Returning Officer Anil Masih as valid.

Setting aside the January 30 results as “contrary to law”, the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, refused to quash the entire electoral process.

Responding to the verdict, Delhi CM and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal told the media, “I think this has happened for the first time in India's history. We thank the Supreme Court.”