The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging the validity of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, effectively upholding the Bombay High Court's previous decision. The petition, filed by Chetan Chandrakant Ahire, alleged that approximately 75 lakh bogus votes were cast after the polls closed at 6 PM on November 20, 2024. Ahire sought to have the election results declared void, claiming discrepancies in almost 95 constituencies where the number of votes polled and counted did not match. The election results for the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly were declared on November 24, 2024.
Ahire's case was initially dismissed by the Bombay High Court in June 2025, which deemed the petition "absolutely baseless" and a waste of the court's time. The High Court bench, comprising Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Arif Doctor, strongly criticized Ahire's reliance on a single newspaper article to support his claims of discrepancies in the voting process. The court found no evidence of fraud or illegal voting and emphasized that the petitioner had failed to demonstrate any personal legal injury or enforceable right. The High Court noted the claims made were farcical, especially concerning the electronic voting machines. The court was astonished at how a writ petition could be filed based on a single newspaper article purporting to canvass a theory of discrepancies in the 'cast vote' and 'poll votes'.
Uday Warunjikar, representing the Union of India, pointed out that Ahire had bypassed the mandatory process of filing an election petition within 45 days of the results declaration and had not followed the necessary legal procedures.
The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, echoed the High Court's sentiment, declining to entertain Ahire's plea and upholding the previous judgment.
Following the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, allegations of voter fraud have been a contentious issue. Opposition leaders have claimed that the Election Commission ignored evidence of vote manipulation and accused the ruling party of colluding to undermine democratic processes. These allegations included discrepancies between the Lok Sabha and Assembly election outcomes in Maharashtra. Some leaders have alleged that "vote 'chori'" turned the mandate in the assembly polls in favor of the ruling alliance.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections were "stolen," citing possible voter list manipulation and a lack of transparency. Gandhi claimed that a large number of new voters appeared on the rolls between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections and pointed to a significant spike in voter turnout after 5:30 pm. Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has refuted these claims, dismissing them as baseless and suggesting that Gandhi's statements were কারণে erroneous.
Despite these allegations, the Supreme Court's dismissal of Ahire's petition reinforces the validity of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
