Court dismisses petitions against Gadkari due to insufficient evidence

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has dismissed two election petitions against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The petitions challenged his victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the court found the evidence lacking. Advocates Santosh Chavan and Suraj Mishra filed the petitions. They accused Gadkari and his BJP workers of electoral misconduct. This included claims that they distributed voter slips featuring Gadkari's picture and the BJP symbol at polling booths. Mishra also alleged the use of software to create voter details, which he said violated election rules. However, Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke ruled that the petitions had legal flaws. She pointed out that the petitioners did not include all contesting candidates, making their challenge invalid. The court stated that the allegations were vague and did not show they had any real impact on the election results. The judgement noted that to declare an election void, petitioners must prove that any alleged misconduct significantly influenced the outcome. Since this was not established, the case was considered without merit. The court also ordered Mishra to pay Gadkari's legal costs for the failed challenge. Gadkari was represented by senior advocate Sunil Manohar, while the petitioners argued their cases themselves.