The Bombay High Court has dismissed an election petition filed against Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MLA Prakash Rajaram Surve, who was elected from the Magathane Assembly Constituency, on the ground that the petition failed to disclose material facts and did not establish a valid cause of action.
The petition, filed by Udesh Shantaram Patekar of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), alleged several corrupt practices by Surve, including bribery, distribution of pamphlets, Model Code of Conduct violations, and inducement of voters through the promise of constructing a community hall worth ?1 crore.
While rejecting the petition, Justice Sandeep V. Marne emphasized that an election petition is a statutory remedy not a common law action and therefore requires strict compliance with procedural requirements. He observed, “The allegation of corrupt practice is not only serious but constitutes a punishable offence under the Act. Therefore, levelling of such allegations cannot be done in a casual manner.”
The Court noted that although the petitioner claimed to rely on four video recordings, the material was submitted as a collection of MP4 and JPEG files on a single pen drive without clearly identifying or labeling the evidence. “This casual approach does not meet the strict requirements of pleadings. A petitioner cannot dump multiple materials on an electronic device and expect the returned candidate to identify them,” Justice Marne observed. The Court held that the petitioner failed to provide necessary particulars and failed to serve complete attachments on the respondent, making the petition legally untenable.
The Bench further noted that the allegations were vague, lacked specific attribution to Surve, and did not demonstrate how the alleged acts materially affected the election result. Terms such as “consent” and “conspiracy,” the Court held, were used without factual backing, and thus fell short of the threshold required under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Appearances:
Mr. Vijay Nair with Mr. Prashant P. Kulkarni and Ms. Rachna Mamnani and Ms. Ritika R, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Harshad Bhadbhade with Ms. Shagufta Patel, Mr. Atharva Gidaye, Ms. Swati Panjwani and Ms. Padma Chinta, for the Applicant in AEP-3 of 2025 and for Respondent No.1.
Mr. Mahesh B. Gupta, for Respondent No.2.
Mr. Satyajeet A. Rajeshirke with Mr. Gautam R. Kulkarni, for Respondent No.3.
Mr. S.M. Seegarla, for Respondent No.4.
