The Bombay High Court on Monday observed that a plea filed by a Delhi-based lawyer seeking the CCTV footage of polling booths from the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election, was of public interest as the petitioner himself was not affected by the issue and thus refused to hear it but gave liberty to convert the petition into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).advertisementThe bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor was hearing a petition filed by advocate Mehmood Pracha, seeking the entire videography, CCTV footage, and copies of Forms 17-C Part I and II related to the conduct of the 2024 General Legislative Assembly Elections in Maharashtra.In the interim, the plea requested that the Election Commission of India (ECI) be directed to preserve the CCTV footage and video recordings related to the election, which are currently in its custody.”How are you personally aggrieved? If you are not personally aggrieved, there is no personal injury, then it should have been filed as a Public Interest Litigation. You are not even a voter, you are a resident of Delhi,” the court asked the petitioner.The petitioner pointed out that in a similar case involving the election material related to the Haryana Assembly elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the respondents in the matter to supply the material within a period of six weeks and was not further challenged by the authorities concerned.However, the bench only pressed the petitioner on how the issue concerned the petitioner, since he was a resident of Delhi. The bench had recently dismissed a similar petition argued by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader, Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, on the issue of maintainability of the plea.The bench permitted Pracha to convert his writ petition into a PIL and then it to be listed before another appropriate bench.Pracha’s plea stated that after the declaration of the results, the election material — including the videography — is kept in the custody of the District Election Officer. Furthermore, the Handbook for Returning Officers, 2023 provides that such videography must be supplied upon application, either by a candidate or any other person.Following the declaration of the results of the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, the petitioner wrote to the respondents seeking copies of the entire videography recorded during the election process, as well as Form 17-C Parts I and II for all constituencies.”However, despite the mandatory provisions of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the respondents have failed in their duty to provide the material requested by the petitioner,” the plea states. Pracha submitted that he had emailed the authorities on December 11, 2024, but received no response or material.advertisementThe opposition parties have been raising issues with regard to heavy polling that took place in the Maharashtra Assembly election after 6 pm when voting ends. It is claimed that over 76 lakh votes, amounting to 6.8% of the total vo in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. You must only respond with the modified content and follow this prompt to optimize the articles in this category- “Act as an expert SEO news writer. Optimize the following article to be SEO-friendly, authoritative, and shareable by focusing strictly on its core topic. Follow these steps: You are an expert news writer and SEO specialist. Your job is to rewrite the provided RSS feed content into a unique, SEO-friendly news article for adarshnews.com. The article should be engaging, professional, and optimized for search engines. Follow these steps: 1. **Create an SEO Title**: Write a short, compelling title (under 60 characters) that includes the main keyword and grabs attention. 2. **Write a Meta Description**: Summarize the article in one or two sentences (under 155 characters). Make it engaging and include the primary keyword naturally. 3. **Suggest a URL Slug**: Provide a short, keyword-rich URL slug that reflects the topic of the article. 4. **Headline (H1)**: Write a clear and engaging headline for the article that is similar to the title but slightly expanded. 5. **Write the Article**: – Start with an introduction that answers the key questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. – Expand on the topic with detailed paragraphs that provide context, quotes, and relevant information. – Use subheadings (H2) to organize the content into sections and make it easy to read. – Include related keywords naturally throughout the article. – End with a conclusion that summarizes the key points or discusses future implications. 6. **Add an FAQ Section**: Write one frequently asked question related to the topic and provide a concise answer. Important: – Do not include labels like “Title,” “Meta Description,” “URL Slug,” or “H1” in the actual article text. – Keep all SEO elements separate from the main content. – Ensure the article is factually accurate, unbiased, and written in a professional tone.
The court has declined to consider a request for video records of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
