Mumbai, July 25 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today dismissed a petition filed by a member of advocate Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) alleging serious discrepancies in the conduct of the Maharashtra Assembly elections held on November 20, 2024, especially the unusually large percentage of votes cast post the 6 p.m. deadline.

The petition, filed by Mumbai resident Chetan Chandrakant Ahire of VBA, alleged procedural irregularities and a lack of transparency regarding the votes polled after 6 p.m.

The petition had highlighted concerns about a significant and unexplained spike in late voting, which, the petitioners argued, undermined public faith in the electoral process.

During hearings, the bench, comprising Justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, raised questions about why similar voting patterns in previous general elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, were never challenged.

The court also observed that "unless evidence showed post-6 p.m. polling results specifically aiding any winning candidate, the petition lacked substantial merit."

While rejecting the petition, the bench refrained from imposing costs on the petitioners, despite noting the extent of time spent on hearing the matte and in its order stated that 'In the light of the above facts, we have no doubt that this petition needs to be rejected. It is accordingly rejected. A whole day of this Court was wasted in hearing the petition. Although costs should be imposed on them, we refrain from doing so."

The lawyer representing the Election Commission had earlier expressed objections, questioning the petitioner's locus standi and the absence of the winning candidates as parties to the lawsuit.

The bench accepted many of these points while dismissing the petition. UNI AAA SSP