Overview
- A Bombay High Court bench quashed the returning officer’s December 31 decision rejecting Nilesh Bhojane’s nomination for NMMC Ward 17A, declared his papers valid, and ordered his name added with ballot papers reprinted so the poll proceeds on schedule.
- The judges held that Section 10(1D) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act applies to sitting councillors and not to candidates at the nomination stage, calling the rejection “patently illegal.”
- An earlier ad‑interim stay on the ward’s election was lifted, with the court noting that limited intervention in a single ward does not halt the broader municipal election process.
- Separately, a PIL by Mozam Ali Mir is listed for hearing, alleging citywide rejection of BMC nominations on hyper‑technical and non‑statutory grounds, including demands for NOCs not prescribed by the State Election Commission.
- SEC data annexed to the PIL shows 11,391 nomination forms distributed but only 2,516 received (about 22%), with ward‑level gaps cited, and the plea seeks quashing of such rejections, revalidation of nominations, and a revised election timetable.