Videography of counting ensured justice, says Buana Lakhu’s new sarpanch Mohit

“I was shocked when I was shown defeat in the Sarpanch election, but the videography at the time of the counting saved me,” said Mohit Kumar, the newly declared sarpanch of Buana Lakhu village in Panipat.

For 33 months, the 27-year-old graduate fought a relentless battle in lower courts, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and finally the Supreme Court, before being declared the rightful winner. “I have been mentally harassed badly, my family also got disturbed and even I was financially drained. But my determination to fight against the injustice took me from one court to another, and finally, truth has prevailed,” he said.

On Thursday, after the apex court declared him victorious, Mohit took oath as Sarpanch. His family and villagers celebrated the win with enthusiasm.

The recounting exercise was supervised by Supreme Court OSD (Registrar) Kaveri in the presence of both parties and their advocates, and was videographed. Following the recounting, the November 2022 election result was overturned, with Mohit Kumar emerging victorious by 51 votes against his rival Kuldeep Singh.

A counting ‘mess’

Recalling the events, Mohit said: “The election was held on November 2, 2022. Counting was done the same day across six polling booths. According to the ballot paper, I was on the fifth number, while Kuldeep Singh was on the first.”

But during counting at booth number 69, the presiding officer allegedly made a mess, showing Mohit on serial number 6 instead of 5, and Kuldeep on number 5 instead of 1. This error inflated Kuldeep’s tally with 254 votes while showing Mohit with just 7 votes.

The final results announced by the returning officer gave Kuldeep Singh 1,117 votes and Mohit 804 votes. “The results shocked me. But since videography had been done, I challenged it. After the first recounting, I was declared winner and even officials admitted their mistake in writing,” he told ‘The Tribune’.

However, Kuldeep Singh moved the high court and got a stay. For nearly one and a half years, the village remained without a Sarpanch.

Long legal road

In April 2025, the Additional Civil Judge-cum-Election Tribunal, Panipat, ordered recounting of votes of booth 69. But the high court later set aside the order on July 1, 2025.

Undeterred, Mohit moved the Supreme Court. The apex court directed production of all records and ordered recounting of votes of all six booths. On August 6, OSD (Registrar) Kaveri recounted all 3,767 votes cast, declaring Mohit winner with 1,051 votes against Kuldeep Singh’s 1,000.

“Although the fight was long and full of harassment, I trusted the judicial system. My determination helped me get justice,” said Mohit.

Pointing to lapses, he said, “It all happened because of the mess made by presiding and returning officials at the time of counting. How can trained officials make such mistakes?”