‘Farcical claims out of desperation’ HC junks plea claiming bogus voters in 2024 assembly polls

Mumbai, Jun 25 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition alleging bogus voters during the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls, noting that it was nothing but “farcical claims made out of desperation”.
    A bench of Justice G S Kulkarni and Arif Doctor said petitioner Chetan Ahire, who claims to be a “public-spirited” voter, has failed to provide any authentic information to back his allegations and claims.
    It also noted that Ahire was not a candidate in the polls.
    “We wonder as to how the petitioner can have a locus standi to seek such wide, sweeping and drastic reliefs to question the entire elections of the State Legislative Assembly,” the HC said.
    It is a relief, too far-fetched, that too on the basis of no cause of action, as the facts clearly demonstrate, it said.
    The bench said that the plea appears to be filed in “absolute desperation” and has made “farcical claims on the purity of the process of the elections of the State Assembly, and more particularly in the context of the electronic voting machines (EVM)”.
    The petition had sought that the EVM system be replaced by the traditional method of voting by ballot papers.
    Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, the HC said that the use of EVMs has been held legal and valid.
    It said the plea has been filed without any tangible material to support the claims of false and bogus voting.
    “There is no material whatsoever, much less of any authenticity, to the effect that there was any malpractice, fraud or complaint of any nature in regard to the voting at the closing hours of the poll i.e. at about 6 p.m., not by the voters who were not in queue,” HC said.
    “We are of the clear opinion that merely on political opinions or on unsubstantiated newspaper reports, a petition cannot at all be maintained,” the court said.
    In his plea, Ahire had challenged the entire Maharashtra assembly polls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in November 2024, seeking that they be declared null and void.
    Ahire claimed that around 6.8 per cent of the total number of votes (76 lakh) that were cast after 6 pm were illegal, “as there is no data available about these voters with the ECI”.
    Ahire said that since he was a voter, he was aggrieved by the “fraud” committed on the general public.
    In last year's polls, the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP swept the elections, winning 230 of the 288 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) got 46 seats.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)