Bombay High Court Allows Amendment in Nagpur Graduates’ Election Case

On Tuesday, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court granted permission for an amendment to a petition that seeks to invalidate the recent election for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency and calls for a fresh election. The court allowed the petitioner to pursue the matter as an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The division bench, consisting of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Raj Wakode, instructed the petitioner to distribute copies of the amended petition to all involved parties within two days. The Election Commission of India (ECI), the State Election Commission (SEC), and the Nagpur divisional commissioner are required to submit their responses by October 30.

The case was initiated by Sachin Kalbande, who previously requested a halt to the election process, claiming that numerous eligible voters were not included in the final electoral roll. Following the completion of polling, Kalbande sought to amend his original petition to transform it into an election petition as per the 1951 law.

In the amended petition, it is alleged that 98,782 applications for voter registration were submitted after September 22, 2026, and these applications are still pending scrutiny. The petitioner argues that the final electoral roll was not published in a timely manner, preventing eligible applicants from objecting to the omission of their names.

The petition, filed with the assistance of counsel I K Daudsare, also claims that some voters' names appeared multiple times in the final list under different serial numbers. The state was represented by additional government pleader advocate Sangeeta Jachak, while Nirja Choubey appeared on behalf of the Election Commission of India.