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Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Dwaraknath Kande has filed a writ petition challenging the order of the Election Commission of India invalidating his vote in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha election. The ECI has, on June 10,  invalidated his vote for compromising the secrecy of the ballot as he showed the ballot paper to persons other than his party’s whip.

The plea filed through Advocate Ajinkya Udane was mentioned before a division bench of Justices S V Gangapurwala and Thakur and is likely to be taken up on June 15. According to the plea, a whip was issued to vote for Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar by the chief whip Sunil Prabhu.

It is stated that on June 10 Kande reached the electoral hall and was asked to exercise his right to vote. It is stated that all party whips were seated in the same row and an artificial partition was created amongst them. Kande in the plea states that he showed the ballot paper to the Chief Whip of his party.

According to the plea, Yogesh Sagar, a BJP MLA had raised an objection stating that the secrecy of the ballot is compromised and sought for Kade’s vote to be made void as he showed it to other whips also. The plea states that the objection was raised after Kande left the electoral hall after casting his vote. It is noted in the plea that Shiv Sena has also raised similar objections in respect of some members of BJP.

It is contended in the plea that the Election Officer-in-charge of the polling station in his ruling on Sagar’s objection came to a conclusion that it is factually not correct. According to the plea, Kande had folded the ballot paper, went to the Chief Whip and showed the ballot paper only to him. It is stated that Shiv Sena’s Chief Whip was sitting adjacent to BJP’s whip and Kande was not aware of who was sitting next to his party’s Chief Whip.

According to the plea, even though Sagar did not file an appeal against the ruling of the election officer, members of BJP such as Muktar Abbas Naqvi, Gajendra Shekawat, Jitendra Singh and others filed an appeal before the Election Commission of India. The plea questions the locus standi of Naqvi and others for having approached the Election Commission.

The plea states that ECI did not send notice or any communication as to the appeal filed before it. The ECI, without giving a copy of the objections by persons who were not a party to the election process found it fit to interfere with the order of the Election officer, the plea alleges.

Kande in the plea states that there is nothing in ECI’s order to the effect that he has shown the ballot paper to any person other than the Chief Whip of his party. It is further contended that the ECI passed an order against Kande without affording him an opportunity to present his case.

The plea notes that the order of ECI is not legally tenable as there is no provision in the Representation of Peoples Act for appealing against the order of the Election Officer. It is also contended that even if the appellate power is available, it cannot be done so in objections raised by persons who are not members of the legislative assembly. The locus standi is with Yogesh Sagar who initially raised the objection.

The plea, therefore, seeks quashing of the order passed by the Election Commission of India invalidating Kande’s vote.

Case title: Suhas Dwaraknath Kande Vs Election Commission of India