"Wasted time of this court": Bombay HC rejects plea claiming discrepancies in 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 25 (ANI): The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to set aside the results of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and said it had "wasted time of court".
A Division Bench comprising Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Arif S Doctor rejected the petition filed by Mumbai resident Chetan Ahire, who had challenged the validity of the election results based on votes allegedly polled after the stipulated 6 pm deadline.
Pronouncing its order after reserving it earlier this week, the court said, "This petition needs to be rejected, and that is why it is being rejected accordingly. It has wasted the time of this court, but we refrain from imposing any cost on the petitioner."
The petition, argued by Advocate and political leader Prakash Ambedkar--grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, alleged that a total of 76 lakh votes were polled after 6 pm on November 20, 2024, the day of polling in Maharashtra.
It further claimed that this unusually high number of late votes had a decisive impact on as many as 90 assembly constituencies.
However, during the hearing on Monday, the bench posed critical questions to the petitioner's counsel, asking, "Is this the first time votes were polled after 6 pm in any election?"
The court also questioned why no challenge had been brought in relation to the Lok Sabha elections, where similar voting patterns reportedly occurred.
Responding to the bench's queries, counsel for the Election Commission of India and the Union Government, clarified that polling beyond 6 pm is not an irregularity but a routine feature of Indian elections.
Voters who are present in the queue by the scheduled closing time are legally permitted to cast their vote, which often leads to extended polling hours, the counsel said.
The court found no grounds to intervene to annul the results of an entire state election. (ANI)