HC dismisses petition by Congress leader Abhay Chhajed

HC dismisses petition by Congress leader Abhay Chhajed

Pune: The Mumbai High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by Congress leader Abhay Chhajed against the victory of BJP leader Madhuri Misal in the 2014 Assembly election. 

Chhajed, who lost the election from Parvati constituency, had challenged the election and the result on the grounds of malpractices and tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). He alleged his polling agents were not given entry at the time of the mock poll conducted at the polling stations and that name and signature of his election agent Sunil Shinde was not correctly given. 

Also, votes of his several supporters, who had voted for him, were not counted in his favour and thus, there is a discrepancy with the election results. 

Dismissing the case, Justice Mridula Bhatkar stated, “The difference between the votes of the returned candidate and the elected candidate is 73,611 votes. Thus, the evidence is not sufficient to hold that because of non-compliance of rules or because of use of EVMs or due to change in name and signature of polling agent, the case of the petitioner is materially affected to declare the election void and the petition fails. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed.” 

The court appreciated the use of Voters Variable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) nowadays in voting with EVMs. 

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