Bombay High Court dismisses plea against Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai's election as MP

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai as Lok Sabha member in the 2024 parliamentary polls, noting the plea "did not disclose a cause of action for questioning the election".

A single bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh on Tuesday dismissed the election petition filed by one Mahendra Bhingardive, who had also contested the Lok Sabha polls.

Bhingardive in his plea sought for the nomination papers of Desai and other candidates who had contested the election be declared as invalid, null and void as being defective and incomplete.

He also sought an order declaring himself as the elected candidate in the general elections-2024 from the Mumbai South Central parliamentary constituency.

Justice Deshmukh, in her judgment, however, noted the Returning Officer had scrutinised the nomination forms and the affidavits and accepted the same without finding any defect of substantial character.

"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. A pleading in that respect is essential to disclose a cause of action for questioning the election," the judge said.

The petition failed to show what was the consequence of the alleged defects in the nomination paper and affidavit, the HC said.

"In the present case, the petition does not have a single averment as to how the alleged lapses/defects are of substantial character and has resulted in violation of fundamental right of the citizen to know the true facts and information of the contesting candidate," it said.

Desai won the Mumbai South Central seat, defeating Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's sitting MP Rahul Shewale by 53,384 votes. Desai had got 3,95,138 votes.

Bhingardive, who contended as a candidate from the Right To Recall Party, got 1,444 votes.

Interestingly, more than 14,000 voters in the constituency chose None Of The Above (NOTA) option.