Single-judge Justice Sandeep K Shinde observed the petition failed to plead ‘material facts’ resulting in an incomplete cause of action.
The factual matrix in the case was that Dilip Bhausaheb Lande was elected MLA in 2019 from Chandivali. He defeated petitioner, who was the Indian National Congress candidate, by a thin margin of 409 votes.
Khan then filed the present petition for declaring the election void on grounds of corrupt practices by Lande.
Khan claimed that there were certain concocted and doctored videos of him which Lande deliberately circulated on WhatsApp. These portrayed Khan as an anti-national person.
He further claimed that members of the Shiv Sena, including its chief, Uddhav Thackeray, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, addressed audiences within the prohibited period of 48 hours which was in contravention to the Model Code of Conduct by the Election Commission.
Khan’s plea challenged the election on the ground that the only beneficiary from circulating the doctored video was Lande, as it amounted to Khan’s defamation by painting him as an ‘anti-national’.
Source: Barandbench
