Court junks candidate’s plea on rejected poll nomination: Better luck next time

“Better luck next time,” said Bomby High Court while dismissing a plea filed by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) candidate Aakifahmed Dafedar, whose nomination for the Bandra West constituency was rejected by the Returning Officer (RO) due to incomplete documentation.
Delivering the judgment, the bench of Justices Arif Doctor and Somsekhar Sundaresan highlighted that a public notice had been published on October 22, which clearly mentioned that the scrutiny of nomination forms for Maharashtra Assembly elections would begin at 11 am on October 30.
The bench noted that Dafedar had submitted an affidavit to rectify his incomplete nomination only after the deadline, around 11.30 am, which led to the rejection of his candidacy.
During the hearing, Advocate Akshay Shinde, representing the Election Commission of India and the Returning Officer, asserted that the final list of candidates had already been released. He also argued that any further consideration of Dafedar’s petition could disrupt the ongoing election process.
“This subsequent development ought to be considered in its proper perspective, as it has a decisive adverse effect on the entertainability of the present Petition, especially at this crucial stage,” Shinde submitted.
The court also observed that Dafedar had failed to provide key information in his nomination form, including details on criminal records, if any, and his financial status, both of which are essential for candidate eligibility.
Dafedar’s counsel, advocates Imran Ansari and Sayed Ali Hasan, argued that many candidates across the state faced similar issues, with their nominations being rejected due to incomplete documentation.
In response, the bench requested Shinde to submit an affidavit disclosing the number of candidates whose nominations were similarly dismissed due to late filing of affidavits.
“We are aware that our scope of intervening in this issue is very limited. We have to see if there is an exfacie illegally. So, for that we asked some questions but that is not being answered in your affidavit. You have given yourself the relief that you need not answer our question,” the bench said.
Shinde, howeever, requested additional time to compile the required data.
The bench expressed dissatisfaction over the delay, stating, “You could have said you need more time, but you cannot say that you are not dealing with it”.
To this, Shinde stressed that each Returning Officer in Mumbai Assembly constituencies had scheduled the scrutiny of documents to begin at 11 am on October 30.
Considering all arguments and procedural adherence, the court ultimately dismissed Dafedar’s plea, upholding the Returning Officer’s decision to reject his incomplete nomination.