The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court recently delivered a decisive judgment affirming the election of Congress MP Shobha Dinesh Bacchav from Dhule to the 18th Lok Sabha. The court dismissed the election petition filed by BJP candidate Dr. Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, who had narrowly lost by 3,831 votes. A key claim in the petition was that thousands of votes had allegedly been cast in the names of deceased persons and that duplicate votes were recorded in the Malegaon Central constituency.
Court’s Position on Dead Voters
The petitioner submitted data from the Malegaon Municipal Corporation's death register, revealing 4,378 deceased individuals whose names remained in the voter list. It was alleged that these names were used to cast fraudulent votes in favour of Bacchav. However, the court emphasized:
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"There is no prima-facie material to indicate that votes are cast in the name of dead persons."
Justice Arun Pednekar highlighted the absence of supporting evidence such as CCTV footage or records from Form 17-A and 17-C registers, which would confirm such fraudulent activity. The court noted that polling agents, who could verify these claims, had neither raised objections nor submitted affidavits.
Speculation Not a Substitute for Evidence
“The presence of dead persons in the electoral roll alone does not justify the presumption that votes were cast in their names.”
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The bench clarified that without verifiable proof or complaints from polling agents, the allegations remain speculative. Additionally, the Election Commission had declined to share specific voting data due to internal protocols, making the claims harder to prove.
On Alleged Duplicate Voting
The petitioner alleged that 3,329 individuals had voted multiple times from different booths. Charts and lists were submitted to support this claim. Still, the court found no direct evidence indicating that the same individuals voted multiple times. Again, the lack of objections by polling agents during the polling process weakened the argument.
On Criminal Record Suppression
The petitioner also contended that Bacchav had failed to disclose a criminal case filed against her in her nomination affidavit. The judge dismissed this point:
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"There is no pleading that non-disclosure of a criminal case led to undue influence on voters or constituted a corrupt practice."
The Bombay High Court found that the election petition lacked substantive evidence and relied heavily on conjecture. It ruled that none of the allegations, including those under Section 100(1)(d)(iv) of the Representation of the People Act, were supported with material particulars. As a result, the petition was dismissed, upholding Shobha Bacchav's electoral victory.
