"Wasted time of this court": Bombay HC rejects plea claiming discrepancies in 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 25 (ANI): The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to set aside the results of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and said it had 'wasted time of court'.
A Division Bench comprising Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Arif S Doctor rejected the petition filed by Mumbai resident Chetan Ahire, who had challenged the validity of the election results based on votes allegedly polled after the stipulated 6 pm deadline.
Pronouncing its order after reserving it earlier this week, the court said, 'This petition needs to be rejected, and that is why it is being rejected accordingly. It has wasted the time of this court, but we refrain from imposing any cost on the petitioner.'
The petition, argued by Senior Advocate and political leader Prakash Ambedkar--grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and president of the Maha Vikas Aghadi--alleged that a total of 76 lakh votes were polled after 6 pm on November 20, 2024, the day of polling in Maharashtra.
It further claimed that this unusually high number of late votes had a decisive impact on as many as 90 assembly constituencies.
However, during the hearing on Monday, the bench posed critical questions to the petitioner's counsel, asking, 'Is this the first time votes were polled after 6 pm in any election?'
The court also questioned why no challenge had been brought in relation to the Lok Sabha elections, where similar voting patterns reportedly occurred.
Responding to the bench's queries, counsel for the Election Commission of India and the Union Government, clarified that polling beyond 6 pm is not an irregularity but a routine feature of Indian elections.
Voters who are present in the queue by the scheduled closing time are legally permitted to cast their vote, which often leads to extended polling hours, the counsel said.
The court found no grounds to intervene to annul the results of an entire state election. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
20 minutes ago
- Indian Express
What happened when missiles rained down in Israel: An account from Indians working there
On June 13, when Israel attacked Iran, the Indian embassy in Israel informed its citizens, many of them workers, on how to respond in case of an attack. 'If we were on the road, we had to lie down with both arms on the head; if we were on a bus, we had to stop and rush to the nearest bunker; and if we were at work, we had to rush to the basement,' said Basav Ram, a 30-year-old construction worker from Haryana's Jind. 'In our initial months, the Iron Dome (Israeli interceptor) was a wonder to us. We would gaze at the interceptions, but this time, it was a whole new ball game.' Ram, since he landed in Israel's Tel Aviv and moved to Netanya in April 2024, has seen the two countries attack each other over four times. However, this time, the attacks were more intense, he said. Around 6 am on June 13, his phone rang, warning him of an attack. 'First, we got a warning message, then an alarm rang, then a red alarm activated, which shut the phone off except for the blaring sound. The sirens from speakers outside accompanied this. We rushed to the bunker outside our building. Once inside, we were safe. Had buildings fallen on top of it, it would still not have collapsed,' he said. Ram rushed to such bunkers twenty times in the '12-day war', as US President Donald Trump calls it. From June 13 to 23, when a ceasefire was announced, Iran's ballistic missile attacks claimed 28 lives in Israel while Israel killed over 600 Iranians, including their top military brass. The Indian citizens in Israel include thousands employed by various companies through India's National Skill Development Corporation after it received a demand for 10,000 construction workers from Israel's Population and Immigration Authority for four roles — formwork, iron bending, plastering and ceramic tiling in November 2023, a month after Israel's attack on Gaza began. The NSDC has sent workers from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana so far under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement. Ram said he wanted to go home, but the embassy did not order an evacuation. 'I could not go individually because I could not get a vacation and was unsure of whether I would get a visa to re-enter if I left. Many of us from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana were discussing this. Everyone was scared, but we were more scared to go. The contract was for five years, and we want to make a name for ourselves. We came with a dream, and I could not go before it was fulfilled,' Ram said. 'I was constantly thinking of my family when explosions were ringing out around us. Ghar, galiyaan, gaon, sab yaad aayi.' Whenever his employer gave them a day off, the message came with a sense of foreboding. 'It was an omen that the day ahead would see attacks. The defence system intercepted all the missiles, but the explosions left us terrified. When my mother called worried, I would tell her the visuals broadcast by Indian media were fake,' he said. Ram said he will go home for a month this year and hopes to get married before returning. 'After the contract ends, I will go back and give the CET (common eligibility test for group C jobs). With a job at home, things will be immensely better. By then, I would have saved enough to sustain my family till I secure a posting,' he said. Currently, he earns around Rs 1.2 lakh a month, of which around 1 lakh is sent home every month. 'I can't leave my parents to poverty at this age,' Ram said. Gurdeep from Haryana, who lives in Lod, 15 km away from Jerusalem, said the surveillance during the war was scaled up. 'A few Indian labourers posted videos of the attack on social media. Soon, the embassy informed us not to take videos. They said action will be initiated against us. Every conversation and message is documented, even this call over WhatsApp,' he claimed. Gurdeep had left Jind for a construction job, which was terminated after three months. 'I was moved to the bakery by the same contractor, so the agreement remained the same,' he said. While the war waged, Gurdeep could not get a day off. 'If the siren went off, we would rush to the bunker under the bakery,' he said. His day shift is from 6 am to 6 pm, while the night shift is from 6 pm to 6 am, which he alternates between every week. 'When the sight of a truce was not near, I made sure my wife knew nothing about the attacks. I told my brothers to keep her away from the news,' he said. The last attacks in 2024 had left the family petrified, he said. Another labourer, on condition of anonymity, claimed they have been asked not to respond to posts of Palestinians on social media. 'We cannot be seen sharing or even interacting with content on Gaza. We rarely see any posts, and if we do, we have to ignore them. The embassy has also warned us of this,' he claimed. Shankar Dayal, who went to Israel in June 2024, said that although he was selected for tiling work at a construction site, he was placed on a road brick-laying stint. 'Several people have to leave because of this, and I have been shuttling between different jobs ever since,' he said. Dayal said long hours and heavy labour made him reconsider his decision. 'I want to go back to India. Jhagda chal raha hai yahan baar baar. Sabko jaan pyaari hai. If I had a better job, I would have been able to endure it better,' he said. Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More
Scroll.in
23 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Congress believes in India first but some put PM Modi first: Kharge on Shashi Tharoor article
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that while his party believed in putting India first, 'some people' placed Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the country. Kharge's comment at a press conference came in response to a question about an article written by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor, who headed a parliamentary delegation for the diplomatic outreach undertaken by the Union government following the Pahalgam terror attack and the four-day conflict with Pakistan, had praised Modi's approach in an article in The Hindu on Monday. The Thiruvananthapuram MP described Modi's 'energy, dynamism and willingness to engage' as a 'prime asset' for India on the world stage, adding that the prime minister deserved more support. The Congress has repeatedly accused the Union government of weakening Indian diplomacy and leaving the country 'isolated' globally. When asked about Tharoor's article at the press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Kharge said: 'I can't read English well. His [Tharoor's] language is very good. That's why we have made him a Congress Working Committee member.' Opposition parties had supported the Indian military during Operation Sindoor, said the Congress chief. 'We said that the country is supreme and we will work together for the country,' Kharge said. 'We said 'country first, party later'. Some people say 'Modi first, country later'. What can we do about that?' When asked what action the Congress could possibly take against Tharoor, Kharge said that 'people will write as they please'. 'We do not want to bother ourselves about it,' Kharge added. 'Our only target is unity in the country and security of the country. We will keep fighting for the country…There is no need to pay attention to what anyone says.' The Congress had distanced itself from Tharoor's remarks on Tuesday, saying that it was his personal view and did not reflect the party's stand. 'That may be his [Tharoor's] opinion but that is not the Congress party's view,' The Hindu quoted Supriya Shrinate, who heads the Congress' social media unit, as having told reporters. 'It is not the Congress view since we have presented our views with evidence and proof.' Hours after Kharge's remarks on Wednesday, Tharoor posted an image of a bird on social media platform X, with the caption: 'Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one.' — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 25, 2025 The diplomatic outreach by the Indian government came in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, which left 26 dead, and the subsequent Indian military strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what New Delhi claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed. On May 10, India and Pakistan reached an 'understanding' to halt firing following a four-day conflict.
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
NATO defence budget hike: HAL, BEL, BDL, Paras Defence, Ideaforge, others to benefit. How many of these you own?
Defence stocks rallied on Thursday buoyed by expectations of increased export orders after NATO leaders pledged to scale up defence spending. Data Patterns (India), Astra Microwave Products, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Bharat Electronics (BEL), Zen Technologies, among other defence stocks rallied up to 4%. The upbeat sentiment in defence stocks lifted the Nifty India Defence index by nearly 1.5%, with most of its constituents trading in the green. The surge in sentiment follows the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) leaders' declaration at the Hague Summit, where member states reaffirmed their 'ironclad commitment' to collective defence. They pledged to invest up to 5% of their GDP annually in defence and security-related sectors by 2035. This includes a minimum of 3.5% allocated to core defence capabilities and up to 1.5% for the protection of critical infrastructure. Analysts believe the development could open up significant export opportunities for Indian defence manufacturers. 'If NATO members indeed raise defence spending to 5% of GDP—a substantial increase from current levels—it could significantly reshape global defence procurement dynamics. For India, which is rapidly expanding its defence manufacturing and exports, this shift presents both commercial opportunities and strategic implications,' said Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst at Mehta Equities Ltd. 'India, with its lower production costs and improving indigenous capabilities, could emerge as an attractive secondary supplier for NATO countries,' he added. Echoing similar views, Krishna Doshi, Research Analyst at Ashika Institutional Equities, said the move opens up substantial export opportunities for Indian defence companies. 'Indian firms already supply a wide range of products including arms, ammunition, fuses, complete weapon systems like the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, artillery guns, Dornier-228 aircraft, radars, Akash air defence systems, Pinaka rockets, armoured vehicles, as well as protective equipment and uniforms.' Among NATO's 32 member nations, the United States and France are already significant markets for Indian defence exports, she noted. 'Moreover, the Indian government's policy push to promote indigenous defence systems and its ambitious goal of achieving ₹ 50,000 crore in defence exports by FY29 further strengthens the sector's outlook,' Doshi said. Bhavika Joshi, Business Head, INVasset PMS believes that as Western OEMs face capacity constraints, India's defence industry is emerging as a credible and cost-effective partner to plug these gaps. 'From radars and electronics to artillery and ammunition, Indian companies are now part of global defence supply chains. Bharat Forge recently exported 100 155 mm artillery guns to a European country and signed an LOI to supply howitzers to the US Army — milestones that mark India's entry into NATO-aligned heavy weapons markets,' said Joshi. BEL, through its JV with Thales, is supplying components for Rafale radars used in Europe, while Solar Industries is reportedly in talks to supply Pinaka rockets to France amidst ammunition shortages, Joshi added. Tapse identified potential beneficiaries among Indian defence stocks, including Bharat Electronics (BEL) — which specialises in radar systems, communications, and electronic warfare — along with HAL, Bharat Dynamics (BDL), and Data Patterns (India), a niche player in defence electronics and embedded systems. Doshi pointed to Data Patterns India, Zen Technologies, Paras Defence & Space Technologies, Astra Microwave Products, Ideaforge Technology, HAL, BEL and Bharat Dynamics as key stocks that may benefit from the rising global defence expenditure. 'Further, given the prevailing geopolitical tensions, increased defence spending, and the government's emphasis on indigenization and exports, the overall outlook on the defence sector remains positive,' she said. According to Joshi, what's unfolding is a medium-term export supercycle for Indian defence firms—across public and private sectors, and across market caps. 'HAL, BEL, BDL, and Mishra Dhatu Nigam are backed by government credibility and global tie-ups, while private players like Bharat Forge, Solar, Data Patterns, and Dynamatic are showing product readiness and delivery capacity. Many already supply to NATO-aligned primes like Boeing, Airbus, and Lockheed Martin,' Joshi said. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
