Chennai, Feb 20 (Reporter) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M.K.Stalin on Tuesday night termed the Supreme court verdict on Chandigarh Mayoral polls as a beacon of justice, triumph for integrity and warning to manipulative politics of the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. In a social media post, he said this triumph of integrity and democratic principles send a resounding message of Indian democracy. It is also a warning to the manipulative tactics of BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls, he added. He said "The Hon'ble Supreme Court's ruling in the #ChandigarhMayorPolls is a beacon of justice and the rule of law." "By invoking rarest power under Article 142, the Court has not only upheld fairness but also decisively set aside the electoral malpractice engineered by the Presiding officer", Mr Stalin said. "This triumph for integrity and democratic principles sends a resounding message of Indian Democracy and a warning to the manipulative tactics of the BJP, ahead of General Elections 2024", he added. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court set aside the results of Chandigarh’s Mayor election, in which the BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Sonkar was declared as the winner and ordered to take into account the eight votes which were declared defaced by the Presiding Officer Anil Masih on January 30. The Apex Court invoked its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to pass the directions to do "complete justice." The order paved the way for a clear victory for the AAP-Congress combine candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the winner. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra while pulling up returning officer Anil Masih for ‘contempt of court”, found that the Presiding officer deliberately defaced Ballots. The CJI said that "Setting aside the election process itself would not be proper since the issue is only when the presiding officer made the counting", the bench observed...////...