High Court judge to continue hearing plea challenging Shinde Sena MP’s election

A single judge bench of Justice Riyaz Chagla of Bombay High Court on Friday said that it would continue to hear the election petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Rajan Vichare against the election of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) MP Naresh Mhaske from Thane constituency.
During a previous hearing, advocates Subhash Jha and Harekrishna Mishra, representing Gurudev Suryavanshi, another contestant from the Thane parliamentary seat, objected to Justice Chagla hearing the case.
Jha argued that one of Vichare’s senior advocates, Darius Khambata, had been a senior to Justice Chagla when he started practicing law. He pointed to the High Court website, which mentioned Justice Chagla joining Khambata’s chambers after enrolling as an advocate in 1993. Jha contended that this prior professional connection made it inappropriate for Justice Chagla to preside over the case.
On September 26, when Jha raised the objection and mentioned writing to Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, Justice Chagla adjourned the hearing. However, on Friday, Justice Chagla clarified that he had consulted with the Chief Justice and announced that the case would proceed, scheduling the next hearing for October 10.
Vichare’s petition challenges the validity of Mhaske’s election, requesting the court to declare the election “null and void” and to declare Vichare as the duly elected representative from the Thane constituency. His legal team, led by senior advocates Darius Khambata and Pankaj Savant, had previously argued that Mhaske’s nomination form falsely claimed he had never been convicted.
In fact, Mhaske had been convicted in a rioting case, and his appeal was dismissed by the Thane Sessions Court. Khambata emphasised that such a false declaration amounted to suppression of facts, which misled voters.
Mhaske won the election with 734,231 votes, defeating Vichare, who secured 517,220 votes, while other candidates received only a few thousand votes.