Bombay HC quashes pleas of Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik to cast votes in MLC poll

In what could be termed as a blow to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Bombay High Court rejected on Friday the appeal by two jailed Nationalist Congress Party MLAs to be allowed to vote in the June 20 Maharashtra Legislative Council election.

NCP MLAs Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who have been in judicial custody since their arrest in a money laundering case, moved the court in separate applications. Justice N J Jamadar of Bombay High Court passed the order on an interim application in Deshmukh’s bail plea; Malik had made a fresh petition seeking only permission to vote for the polls in the Vidhan Bhavan complex here.

The Enforcement Directorate, through Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, opposed the applications, citing Section 62(5) of Representation of People Act, which says a person confined in prison cannot vote.

The two MLAs had been unable to secure temporary bail, or permission, for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, either. While Malik is a minister without portfolio in the MVA government, Deshmukh is a former home minister.