The Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court’s dismissal of a petition that sought to annul the results of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The petitioner, Chetan Chandrakant Ahire, alleged that approximately 75 to 76 lakh votes were cast improperly after the official polling deadline of 6 PM and pointed out discrepancies between votes polled and counted across about 95 constituencies.
Earlier, on June 25, 2025, the Bombay High Court had rejected the plea in a strongly worded order. The bench, led by Justices Girish Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, deemed it “absolutely baseless” and said it had wasted the court’s time—remarking that costs might have been appropriate had it not declined to impose them. The court also criticized Ahire’s reliance on media reports and RTI replies, emphasizing that unverified newspaper coverage does not constitute valid legal grounds.
Upon the appeal reaching the Supreme Court, a bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N.K. (Kotiswar/Nongmeikapam Kotiswar) Singh declined to disturb the High Court’s ruling. The bench scrutinized Ahire’s standing to challenge elections across all 288 constituencies and questioned whether he had suffered any legal injury deserving of judicial relief.
In the aftermath, Ahire’s counsel, Prakash Ambedkar, expressed concern over what he framed as the court’s refusal even to hear the petition. He warned that if citizens cannot challenge electoral grievances, transparency and accountability suffer.
The Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court have unanimously dismissed the plea for lack of credible evidence, inappropriate legal procedure, and insufficient proof of harm—thereby affirming the validity of the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election results.
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