Bombay HC Rejects Plea Alleging Bogus Voting in 2024 Maharashtra Polls, Calls It ‘Farcical and Desperate’
Rejecting the petitioner’s claims, the HC cited Supreme Court precedent to uphold the validity of EVMs and dismissed the plea;
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, 25 June 2025, rejected a petition challenging the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections held in November last year, which alleged the presence of bogus votes.
While calling the claims “farcical” and made out of desperation, a division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Arif Doctor stated that the plea was filed without any evidence.
“It is a relief, too far-fetched, that too on the basis of no cause of action, as the facts clearly demonstrate,” the division bench remarked.
The High Court was dealing with a plea filed by Chetan Ahire, who described himself as a “public-spirited” voter. He alleged that the election in question had bogus votes. He added that about 76 lakh votes had been cast after 6 PM and were illegal.
In his plea, Ahire alleged that the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) system was flawed and should be replaced by ballot paper voting. He further urged the court that the election should be considered null and void.
Rejecting the claims, the court stated that since the petitioner was not even a candidate, he had no locus standi. The court also questioned how he could ask for such sweeping relief.
On the petitioner’s claim with respect to EVMs, the bench cited Supreme Court precedent and asserted that EVMs are legally valid and that there was no evidence of fraud or malpractice.
The election in question was conducted in November 2024. The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP won 230 out of 288 seats. On the other hand, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, NCP-SP, and Shiv Sena-UBT secured only 46 seats.