Counting of votes for local body polls across Maharashtra to be held on December 21: Bombay HC to State Election Commission

A bench of Justices Anil S Kilor and Rajnish R Vyas of the Nagpur Bench passed an order on pleas seeking a declaration of results for the local body elections on the same day. The bench said the SEC’s decision was “not just and proper, and needs to be interfered with for a fair and transparent election.”

“We are of the opinion that if the results of the polls to be held on December 2 are declared on December 3, it may materially affect the results of the polls to be held on December 20 and in that case, it cannot be said that the elections to be held on December 20 are held in a fair and transparent manner,” the court said in the order.

“If the public mood is disclosed by declaring the result on December 3 of the polls to be held on December 2, it may materially affect the result of the polls to be held on December 20,” the HC held.

The bench also directed that no exit polls will be publicised during the period from the beginning of polling hours on December 2 until half an hour after the closing of the second phase polls on December 20. It also noted that the Model Code of Conduct will continue to apply till the declaration of results.

On Monday, the court asked the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to reconsider its decision to declare election results in phases.

Various petitions

A petitioner from Warora filed a plea Monday at the Nagpur Bench challenging the State Election Commission’s recent decision to declare the outcome of elections in a phase-wise manner, claiming that the revised poll schedule is unfair and goes against the basic principles of equal and free elections.

Sachin Chute, the BJP candidate for Ward Number 7 of the Warora Municipal Council, objected to the Commission’s move to delay polling and counting in only one division while allowing results for the other wards to be declared on time. He said this will influence voters in the ward and asked the court to stop the December 3 result declaration and order that counting be held for all wards on the same day.

The bench was also hearing a plea filed by Shakil Hamid Mansoori of the Congress party, who sought a direction from the court to set aside the notification for the declaration of results for the Gondia Municipal Council on December 3.

Mansoori had sought that the counting of votes and the declaration of results for all 42 wards of the Gondia civic body be conducted on a single date, December 21.

Mansoori, through Advocates Hrishikesh Chitley and Vedant Pandey, argued that impugned communications “violate the fundamental principle that elections must be free, fair and provide a level playing field to all candidates.”

The petitioner claimed that by allowing declaration of results in 39 wards on December 3, and postponing the elections and results in the remaining three wards to December 21, the respondent authorities have “created a situation where candidates in the latter wards, including the Petitioner, will contest in an environment heavily influenced by the earlier results.”

While responding to similar petitions before the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay HC, the Maharashtra poll body said that results for wards of aggrieved petitioners will be declared on December 21.

Advocate Sachindra Shetye, appearing for SEC, also informed a bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten S Venegavkar that the Nagpur bench of the HC has ordered that all results should be declared together.

The Kolhapur Circuit Bench will also hear the pleas seeking the declaration of results on December 21 in due course.