New Delhi: In a historic decision the Supreme Court  today declared the Aam Aadmi Party’s Kuldeep Kumar the winner of last month’s Chandigarh mayoral election, ending weeks of controversy after Returning Officer Anil Masih was caught on camera invalidating and discarding eight votes in his favour oof the BJP candidate.

The order – preceded by the counting of votes, including those erroneously rejected, in the courtroom rather than a counting centre – cancels the earlier result that saw the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Sonkar elected Mayor. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal has hailed the verdict.

Mr Masih also faces a contempt of court action initiated by the top court, which came down strongly on the former BJP Minority Cell member, who was warned of prosecution if it was found he lied to the court.