The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Nitin Sambre, has dismissed a writ petition filed by Narayan Dinbaji Jambhule challenging the acceptance of the nomination of Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for the legislative Assembly elections. The petitioner, Jambhule, had raised issue of the affidavit submitted by Wadettiwar for his nomination and alleged that the stamp paper used for the affidavit was not purchased in Wadettiwar’s name and had been “interpolated” to meet legal requirements. Jambhule claimed that the Returning Officer (RO) for the Bramhapuri Assembly Constituency in Chandrapur district accepted the affidavit, despite these irregularities, and declared Wadettiwar’s nomination valid on October 30, 2024.

 

In his petition, Jambhule sought immediate action from the Chief Election Officer and the Returning Officer to cancel Wadettiwar’s nomination and argued that the use of an allegedly non-genuine stamp paper violated the Maharashtra Stamp Act of 1958 and the Maharashtra Stamp Rules of 1939. He also requested a public pronouncement declaring that Wadettiwar’s nomination was subject to the final decision in the matter. However, the Court noted that Jambhule’s grievance regarding the improper acceptance of the nomination could not be addressed through a writ petition. The bench cited Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which stipulates that elections can only be challenged through an Election Petition. The Court stressed that the legal framework for contesting elections under Indian law requires that disputes over election nominations, including claims of improper acceptance, must be pursued via an Election Petition. In light of these provisions, the Court found that the writ petition was not maintainable and dismissed it accordingly. Government Pleder D V Chauhan a/w AGP N S Rao represented respondent No 2 and State.