Nagpur: Referring to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench on Tuesday dismissed Manohar Dabrase’s election petition under the People’s Act, 1951, questioning the former’s victory at Lok Sabha polls held in May of last year.
Dabrase, who was one of the contestants, had prayed to declare victory null and void for city MP claiming non-compliance with separate legislative provisions.
Gadkari had opposed the petition arguing that no cause of action for finding his election invalid had been revealed. He also pointed out that Dabrase’s appeal to justify his claims that the poll result was adversely influenced was lacking in material facts.
“In the absence of proof of non-compliance by the petitioner under the provisions of the Indian Constitution or the provisions of the People’s Representation Act or any rules/orders set out therein, thus adversely affecting the election result for the respondent, the petition is liable to be summarily dismissed without trial,” held Justice Atul Chandurka
The final vote count didn’t match, according to the petitioner, and there was a significant difference in the grand total, showing 786 more votes than the total votes polled. The disparity between tallied and counted votes has been unexplained. Therefore, it was impossible to trust the electronic voting machines (EVMs), Dabrase had claimed
The petitioner had earlier claimed that about 11.86 lakh exercised their franchise in the May polls out of more than 19 lakh voters. Gadkari had secured 6.60 lakh while Dabrase polled 26,128 votes and held his seat.
