The Bombay High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by Congress leader Kailash Gorantyal challenging the victory of Shiv Sena MLA Arjun Khotkar in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The court ruled that the objections raised against Khotkar’s eligibility were “trivial and technical” and lacked the merit required to set aside a democratic mandate.
Justice Kishore C Sant of the Aurangabad bench passed the order on Monday, concluding that there was no evidence to suggest that any alleged non-disclosure had materially affected the election outcome or misled the voters.
The legal challenge arose following the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, where Arjun Khotkar defeated Kailash Gorantyal in the Jalna constituency by a margin of over 31,000 votes.
Gorantyal subsequently approached the High Court, naming the Election Commission of India and the Returning Officer as parties. The Congress leader sought to invalidate Khotkar’s election on two primary grounds:
- Office of Profit: He alleged that Khotkar was ineligible to contest because he held the position of Chairman of the Jalna Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) at the time of the election.
- Affidavit Discrepancies: He contended that the affidavit submitted alongside the nomination papers was not in the prescribed format and failed to disclose material facts.
During the proceedings, Advocate S.B. Deshpande, representing Arjun Khotkar, argued against the petition’s maintainability and merits.
The petitioner maintained that the APMC chairmanship constituted an “office of profit” under the state, which should have disqualified Khotkar under Article 191 of the Constitution of India. Furthermore, the petitioner argued that any suppression of information in the election affidavit should result in the nullification of the win.
After hearing both sides, the Court found no substance in the allegations of disqualification. Regarding the “office of profit” claim, the Court observed that the alleged non-disclosure was not a “material fact” that would attract disqualification under Article 191.
The Court emphasized that for an election to be set aside, the irregularities must be significant enough to impact the final result. In this instance, Justice Sant noted:
“The objections raised were of a trivial and technical nature… there was no evidence to suggest that voters were misled due to any such non-disclosure.”
The judgment further clarified that even if there was any form of suppression in the filings, it did not “materially affect” the outcome of the Jalna election, especially considering the significant victory margin of over 31,000 votes. Consequently, the High Court dismissed the petition, affirming Arjun Khotkar’s status as the duly elected representative.
