The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai as a Lok Sabha member for the 2024 parliamentary polls.
The court found that the petition “didn’t disclose a cause of action for questioning the election.”
Justice Sharmila Deshmukh ruled against the petition filed by Mahendra Bhingardive, who also contested the Lok Sabha elections. Bhingardive sought to declare the nomination papers of Desai and other candidates invalid, arguing that they were defective and incomplete. He also requested that he be declared the elected candidate for the Mumbai South Central parliamentary constituency.
However, Justice Deshmukh noted that the Returning Officer had thoroughly scrutinized the nomination forms and affidavits, accepting them without identifying any substantial defects.
The judge stated, “Upon my reading of the entire petition, there is not even a whisper as to the manner in which the improper acceptance of nomination has materially affected the election.”
She emphasized that a clear explanation was necessary to establish a cause of action for challenging the election.
The court highlighted that the petition failed to demonstrate the consequences of the alleged defects in the nomination papers and affidavits.
The judgment read, “In the present case, the petition does not have a single averment as to how the alleged lapses/defects are of substantial character and have resulted in a violation of the fundamental right of the citizen to know the true facts and information of the contesting candidate.”
Anil Desai won the Mumbai South Central seat by a significant margin, defeating sitting MP Rahul Shewale from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena by 53,384 votes, securing a total of 395,138 votes. In contrast, Bhingardive, representing the Right To Recall Party, garnered only 1,444 votes.
Interestingly, over 14,000 voters in the constituency opted for the None Of The Above (NOTA) option.
This ruling underscores the importance of providing substantial grounds when challenging election results. Without clear evidence of how alleged irregularities have affected the election’s outcome, courts are unlikely to entertain such petitions.
The decision also reinforces the validity of the electoral process as conducted by the relevant authorities, paving the way for Anil Desai to continue serving in the Lok Sabha without further legal challenges on this front.
