Mumbai: The Bombay High Court, in an urgent hearing on Saturday, directed that the Senate Elections for the Graduate Constituency of the University of Mumbai (MU) be held on September 24.

A bench comprising Justices AS Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil temporarily stayed the Maharashtra government's September 19 circular, which had postponed the polls. Following the government's circular, MU had also indefinitely postponed the polls on September 20. These long-pending Senate elections, meant to fill ten seats representing the university’s registered graduates, were originally scheduled for September 13, 2023. However, the elections were delayed after the government called for an inquiry into alleged duplicate entries on the electoral rolls.

About The Interim Order

The court has clarified that this interim order is subject to the final outcome of the writ petition and that no party should claim equities based on it. The order was passed while hearing a petition by three aspiring candidates — Milind Satam, Shashikant Zore, and Pradeep Sawant — who challenged the government's decision to postpone the elections.

The government circular had not only delayed the elections but also appointed a OneMember Enquiry Committee, chaired by retired High Court Justice KL Wadne, to investigate the concerns raised by former students of IIT Powai and the Institute of Chemical Technology. While the court allowed the committee to continue its inquiry and submit a report within a month, it refused to intervene in its formation. The court noted that the final voters’ list was published on July 31 and the representation was received on September 2. In the absence of explanation regarding the delay, the circular has been issued “belatedly”, the court added.

Argument Made By Petitioner's Advocates

Petitioners’ advocates, Siddharth Mehta and Harshada Shrikhande, argued that the reasons given by the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (DHTE) for the postponement were not sufficient to justify halting the election process.

State Advocate General Birendra Saraf, representing the government, pointed out that the number of registered voters had drastically dropped from 62,000 in 2018 to just 13,000 this year. He contended that since the elections pertain only to the Graduate Constituency and the Senate remained otherwise functional, there was no urgency to grant an interim order. The court, however, directed that the elections be held on schedule.

Counsel for MU, Anil Sakhare, along with Advocate Manish Kelkar, informed the court that due to the postponement, election staff had been called back, and arrangements at 30 polling booths had been dismantled. On written instructions from the University's Vice-Chancellor, they requested the court to allow the elections to be held on September 24 instead. The court granted this request, scheduling the counting of votes for September 27. The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 26