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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has granted four weeks to Eknath Shinde Sena MP Ravindra Waikar to file his reply to the election petition filed by UBT Sena candidate Amol Kirtikar, challenging Waikar’s victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A single judge bench comprising Justice Sandeep Marne directed Waikar's counsel to submit the reply within four weeks and scheduled the next hearing for October 3rd.

In the Mumbai North West seat, UBT Shiv Sena's Amol Kirtikar was initially declared the winner by a margin of 1 vote. However, Ravindra Waikar was declared the winner by 48 votes after recounting. 

The plea states that Kirtikar is aggrieved on account of the improper reception of void votes cast by 333 impersonators in place of genuine electors, along with a breach of rules/orders, pertaining to the counting process, by ECI officials, which has materially affected the outcome of the election results leading to the Election Petitioner’s defeat by a narrow margin of forty-eight (48) votes, despite getting a total of 4,52,596 votes 

The petition also states that the high-handed hastiness and palpable arbitrariness on the part of the R.O. can also be seen from the fact that she completely ignored Clause 15.19.6 of the 2023 Handbook noted above, which provides for a candidate’s right to file a name for a second recount, particularly when the margin between the first two candidates is narrow.

Furthermore, the petition argues that the scrutiny and counting of the tendered votes is absolutely necessary in this case, considering the fact that the Election Petitioner has got 1 vote more than the Returned Candidate after the counting of the EVM votes and the fact that there are 333 tendered votes.

Case title: Amol Gajanan Kirtikar vs Ravindra Dattaram Waikar & Ors