Petition in High Court says thousands of graduate voter applications pending before Nagpur MLC poll

A dispute has arisen over the coming election in the Nagpur division graduates' constituency. A writ petition has been filed in the High Court by Kalbande, alleging that a large number of graduate voters' applications are still pending, yet there is haste in issuing the final voter list and moving the election process forward.

The petition was heard on Thursday. Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke and Justice Raj Wakode then transferred it to the Mumbai High Court. Earlier, the bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Rajnish Vyas had declined to hear the petition, saying "not before me".

According to the petition, the last date for voter registration in the Nagpur division was fixed as September 26. By September 22, a total of 1,94,404 applications had been received in the division, of which 1,59,192 had been scrutinised and registered.

However, the number of applications rose sharply in the final stretch of registration. More than 98,782 applications are said to have come in during the last four days alone. Their scrutiny and registration could not be completed. Of these, 61,371 applications from Nagpur district alone are reported to be pending. Questions are being raised about pushing the election process forward with so many applications outstanding.

The petitioner alleges that the administration provided only two login IDs for scrutinising and processing online applications, which slowed the checking considerably. After a large number of applications arrived in the last days, clearing them on time became a challenge for the administration. The petition also claims that many offline applications, along with online ones, remain pending.

It has emerged that the final voter list has not yet been prepared by the office of the Nagpur divisional commissioner, while polling is fixed for October 23. The question has been raised whether there is enough time to prepare the final list, scrutinise pending applications and add the names of eligible voters.

The petitioner has asked what the need is to push the election process forward so hurriedly when thousands of applications are pending and the final list is not ready. According to the petitioner, if the election is held without disposing of the pending applications, it will directly affect the voting rights of graduates who applied within the stipulated time.

The voter list carries particular importance in this constituency, as only graduates meeting the prescribed eligibility can vote. Scrutinising every eligible applicant's application and including them in the list is therefore considered essential to the credibility of the election. The petition says that if the final list is prepared with a large number of applications pending, it will affect the voting rights of thousands of graduates and could also raise questions about the fairness of the election.