MUMBAI: In the crucial and high voltage biennial elections of Rajya Sabha in Maharashtra, Maha Vikas Aghadi got a major jolt of rejections of voting to NCP minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh by the Bombay High court. The court refused to grant permission to the NCP duo to cast their vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
The Bombay High Court said that petition Article 227 is not maintainable and instead asked the NCP duo to file their petition as a bail plea under Section 439 of the CrPC and approach the appropriate bench. Earlier the special court had also denied permission to the NCP duo to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik, who is in prison in a money laundering case, to amend his petition seeking permission to cast vote in the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held today. The plea before the High Court was filed as a writ petition invoking Article 227 of the Constitution and Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to quash the order of the special judge who had refused relief to Malik.
NCP duo had moved the High Court seeking a day's bail to cast the vote. Subsequently, he dropped the plea for bail and instead asked the Court to allow him to cast vote under police escort and return to prison.
"From the tenor, the petition is for release on bail on bond. The release can only happen with bond under provisions 439, 440 and 441 of CrPC. The petitioner should have moved an appropriate application under 439 and not the present petition. Leave to amend this petition granted," the Court ordered.
The 50 per cent of elected representatives have cast their votes in Rajya Sabha elections. On Friday morning, only a few MLAs of Maha Vikas Aghadi cast their vote and waited for a court order for Malik and Anil Deshmukh. The reason they had planned the strategy if the NCP duo are rejected the voting rights or permitted. After rejections, a new strategy has been formed by Maha Vikas Aghadi in the voting pattern.