Mumbai, April 7: The Bombay High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Sadanand Sarvankar challenging the victory of Shiv Sena (UBT) Mahesh Sawant from the Mahim Assembly constituency in the 2024 Maharashtra elections.
Allegations of non-disclosure raised
Sarvankar had alleged that Sawant misled voters by failing to disclose four to five pending criminal cases in his election affidavit, and sought to have the election declared void on grounds of non-disclosure. He had lost the closely fought contest, securing 48,897 votes against Sawant’s 50,213 votes.
Petition rejected on technical grounds
However, the High Court rejected the petition on technical grounds, holding that it did not comply with mandatory provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Referring to Section 86(1), the court noted that an election petition must be dismissed if it fails to meet the requirements under Sections 81, 82 or 117 of the Act.
Delay in depositing security flagged
The bench pointed out that under Section 117(1), a petitioner is required to deposit security for costs at the time of presenting the election petition. In this case, Sarvankar filed the petition on January 4, 2025, but deposited the required amount two days later. The court held that the requirement is mandatory and not merely procedural, making the petition defective from the outset.
“The requirement to deposit security for costs is contemporaneous, if not a condition precedent, to the presentation of an election petition,” the court observed, adding that the petitioner must face the consequences of filing a non-compliant plea.
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Court notes disclosure in affidavit
The court also noted that Sawant had, in fact, disclosed as many as 20 pending criminal cases in his nomination affidavit.
High-profile Mahim contest
Mahim had emerged as a high-profile constituency in the 2024 polls, also witnessing the contest of Amit Thackeray, who secured 33,062 votes.
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