In a significant development, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has intervened in the upcoming civic elections across Maharashtra. On Tuesday, the court issued an interim order staying the vote counting process for municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats that was originally scheduled for December 3. This decision came after the court heard multiple petitions that raised serious allegations of procedural irregularities in the conduct of these local body elections.
Court Directs New Counting Date and Bans Exit Polls
Senior counsel Firdos Mirza, who represented the petitioners, stated that the court has indicated a new date for the entire counting process. According to Mirza, the court has directed that the counting of votes for all the concerned civic bodies will now take place on December 21. In a sweeping additional directive, the High Court has also prohibited the publication or broadcast of any exit polls related to these elections until December 20.
Petition from Warora Triggers Judicial Scrutiny
The stay order from the High Court follows a bunch of petitions, with one prominent case emerging from Warora in Chandrapur district. Here, a BJP candidate, Sachin Chute from Hanuman Ward, has legally challenged the State Election Commission's revised election programme. The Commission had earlier halted the election process specifically in Ward No. 7 of the Warora Municipal Council. While announcing that results for the remaining 13 wards would be declared on December 3, this move left the election in one ward in limbo.
Chute moved the High Court specifically against the SEC's November 29 notification, which altered the original election schedule. The petitioner's argument states that he received the Commission's communication about this change only on November 30, a day after the notification was issued.
Chronology of Events and Petitioner's Demands
The petition presented a detailed timeline of events to the court. According to the filing, the State Election Commission had issued the comprehensive election order on June 10. This order outlined crucial aspects like ward formation, delimitation, and the guiding rules for the upcoming civic polls. The schedule for the Chandrapur municipal elections was subsequently declared on November 4.
However, in an unexpected move, the SEC issued a revised schedule on November 29, which included the suspension of polling in the petitioner's ward. The petition now seeks the quashing of this November 29 notification. Furthermore, it requests the High Court to direct that the counting for all 13 wards in Warora—along with the election of the council president and other key office-bearers—be conducted on December 21. This aligns with the new statewide counting date now under judicial consideration.
The core contention of the petitioner is that declaring results for 13 wards on December 3 would unfairly influence and affect the polls for the remaining constituencies, which are scheduled for December 20. The High Court's interim order has put a hold on the entire process, bringing all counting under a unified, later date to ensure fairness and address the alleged procedural lapses.
