Shiv Sena candidate's election upheld, court rejects plea against 2nd spouse mention

India Today

21 hours ago

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Shiv Sena MLA Rajendra Dhedya Gavit, who won the election from Palghar Assembly constituency in Maharashtra due to his second marriage.The petition was filed by one Sudhir Jain, who is a voter from 130-Palghar Assembly Constituency, which is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe. Jain claimed that he is a social activist from Palghar, who raised an objection to Gavit's declarations in the Affidavit in Form-26 filed along with the nomination papers.advertisementGavit was the tribal development minister in the Congress-NCP alliance government. In 2018, he joined the BJP before the Palghar Lok Sabha seat bypoll, and won the same. In 2019, he joined the BJP's alliance partner, Shiv Sena, to contest from Palghar.
Jain alleged that Gavit named Rupali Gavit as his second wife, which is not only incorrect but also against the format of Form-26, as second marriages are void under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act. Senior Advocate Neeta Karnik, appearing for Jain, argued that there is no provision for making any declaration of a second spouse and thus, the addition of an extra column by Gavit to add the name of his second spouse, is in violation of Rule 4A of the election rules.Gavit was first married to Usha Gavit, and then he married Rupali Gavit. Both his spouses have filed income tax returns.advertisementAdvocate Nitin Gangal, appearing for Gavit, said that the mere addition of a column to Form-26, for the purpose of making true and correct disclosure, cannot be a ground for seeking declaration of election as void. Gangal added that "there is no prohibition or restriction on the candidate from making any voluntary disclosure of information". "That declaration of information relating to the marriage of Gavit with Rupali Gavit depicts his honesty," the lawyer said.Gangal further said that Section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 makes the provisions of the Act inapplicable to tribal persons and Gavit is admittedly one belonging to the Bhil community. Therefore, the lawyer said there is no prohibition on the performance of a second marriage. "That otherwise there is a custom of polygamy in the Bhil Community," he added.After going through the arguments of both sides, the bench of Justice Sandeep Marne, said that "merely because Gavit made true disclosure of details of the PAN and the status of Income Tax Returns of his second spouse, it cannot be contended that there is any violation of Rule 4A of the election rules on his part".Rule 4A of the election rules relates to the form of affidavit to be filed at the time of delivering the nomination paper, the bench noted.advertisementThe bench said that the act of Gavit of adding a column to the Form-26 Affidavit to make true and honest disclosure of information would neither render it defective nor would amount to violation of provisions of the election rules.The bench noted that there may be cases where a candidate belonging to a particular religion, in which polygamy is not prohibited, has contracted multiple marriages. If the contention of the petitioner about the impermissibility to add a column in the Form-26 Affidavit is accepted, such a candidate would never be able to contest any election as disclosure of information about an additional wife would attract grounds under Section 100 of the Representation of People Act. This section gives details of grounds for declaring the election to be void.The bench, thus, concluded that "the mere addition of a column to the Form-26 Affidavit would not attract a ground for challenging the election".- EndsMust Watch
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