Bombay HC Directs Release Of EVMs Sealed After Legal Dispute Over Thane Seat Elections

The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed the release of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), which were sealed following  a legal dispute over election victory of Shinde Sena MP Naresh Mhaske by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Rajan Vichare.

Justice Riyaz Chahal directed release of EVMs consisting of 4918 Ballot Units and 2459 Control Units following an application by Election Commission of India (ECI) for use in upcoming Assembly elections. 

ECI advocate Abhijeet Kulkarni sought release of the EVMs submitting that they were stuck with the district election office and were not required for deciding the election petition.  

The court, in the last hearing, had then questioned whether the EVMs were needed as evidence in the case.

Vichare’s lawyer submitted that the EVMs might not be necessary as vote counting was not being contested and results were already available on the ECI website. The advocate said that Vichare’s petition was based on documents which are already attached in the petition. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Rajan Vichare had challenged Naresh Mhaske’s victory contending that the latter’s nomination form declared no prior convictions, despite a past conviction for rioting by a magistrate court. The conviction was upheld by the Thane Sessions Court.

Vichare argued that Mhaske’s failure to disclose this information misled voters. The plea seeks to nullify Mhaske’s election as an MP from the Thane constituency and declare Vichare as the duly elected candidate.

Although the ECI is not a respondent in Vichare’s petition, it approached the court to release the EVMs since regulations mandate that EVM data must be preserved for 45 days post-election, during which it cannot be reused.