Mon Feb 03 23:40:00 UTC 2025: ## Bombay High Court Questions Maharashtra Election Results

**Mumbai, February 4, 2025** – The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra, demanding a response to a petition challenging the November 2024 state assembly election results.

The petition, filed by Chetan Chandrakant Ahire, alleges significant irregularities, particularly concerning a disproportionately high number of votes cast in the final minutes of polling on November 20th. The petitioner claims approximately 7.5 million votes were cast after 6 p.m., the official closing time, without a transparent system for verifying their authenticity. Furthermore, the petition highlights the ECI’s failure to provide detailed data on these alleged anomalies, stating that the commission claimed it lacked the relevant information.

The petition also points to discrepancies in approximately 95 constituencies, where the number of votes cast differed from the number counted. The petitioner argues that the Returning Officers lacked the authority to declare results in these constituencies due to these discrepancies, citing a violation of established ECI procedures.

The High Court’s Division Bench, comprising Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata, has given the ECI and CEO two weeks to respond. The petitioner’s lawyer argued that approximately 6.8% of all votes were cast between 5 p.m. and the end of voting, raising serious concerns about the election’s integrity and the reliability of the electronic voting machines used. The petition questions the validity of the results, claiming they were declared without proper jurisdiction due to these alleged violations.

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