Bombay High Court directs release of seized EVMs ahead of Maharashtra elections

The bench heard the plea filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut, challenging BJP leader Narayan Rane's victory in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra, alleging that the win was secured through fraudulent means.

In Short

• EVMs were used in the 2024 Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg election
• Since then, the EVMs were held by a District Election Officer
• Bench heard the Election Commission's plea to release EVMs

The Bombay High Court has ordered the release of 1,944 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) that were held by a District Election Officer in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly elections. This decision came after neither Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut nor BJP leader Narayan Rane raised objections to the release of the machines.

The bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal heared the petition filed by the Election Commission of India, which sought the release of these EVMs for use in the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.

Advocate Abhijit Kulkarni, representing the poll panel, argued that the machines were not central to the ongoing election petition case and did not involve vote counting or tampering with EVMs, making their release appropriate for reuse in the upcoming polls.

The EVMs were initially used in the 2024 election for the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Parliamentary Constituency and have since been in the custody of the District Election Officer, the plea from ECI said.

The poll panel noted that no party involved in the original election petition had requested the production of these machines in court. The High Court, the only competent body to handle election petitions, had not ordered the machines to be presented as evidence, allowing the ECI to move forward with their release for the next elections.

The bench heard the plea filed by Raut, challenging Rane's victory in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra, alleging that the win was secured through fraudulent means, including violations of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act. He also claimed that no action was taken by the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra in response to these violations.

The plea further highlighted a speech given by Rane's son, Nitesh Rane, an MLA, who allegedly threatened to allocate budgets based on voting patterns in favor of his father. However, this speech was given when Rane’s candidature from the area was not even declared by the party.

Raut stated that he had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, but they found nothing wrong. He claimed that this response from the authorities only emboldened Rane's family and BJP workers to further pressurise voters.