On Monday, the Bombay High Court seeks the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clarify the reasons behind its rejection of the nominations submitted by various candidates throughout Maharashtra, particularly those who filed their papers after 11 AM on October 30 for the upcoming State Assembly Elections.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Arif Doctor and Somasekhar Sundaresan also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide a list of candidates from across the state whose nominations were rejected due to submission after the 11 AM deadline.

Notably, October 30 was the final day for filing nomination papers.

A candidate from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) approached the High Court after the Returning Officer (RO) rejected his nomination papers for the Bandra West constituency, citing that they were submitted after the 11 AM deadline.

The candidate contended that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should not reject nomination papers solely based on their submission after 11 AM. He argued that nominations should be accepted within the designated working hours and that there is no valid justification for establishing 11 AM as a cutoff time.

In its defense, the Election Commission of India (ECI), represented by Advocate Akshay Shinde, stated that a standing order from the Election Commissioner mandated the commencement of scrutiny of nomination papers from 11 AM onward, which led to the rejection of papers submitted after that time. During the hearing, the bench questioned the ECI regarding its blanket decision to reject all nominations filed after 11 AM.

"We want to know how you came across this 11 AM deadline? Why couldn't the deadline be something like 12 or even 1? The working hours start from 11, so why keep that deadline?" the judges said.

Shinde further clarified that the petitioner had not provided essential information, including "criminal antecedents" and "financial details." The bench remarked that if such crucial information is missing, it could be regarded as if the nomination papers were not filed at all.

"We will give that finding too. But before that we need to know why this 11 AM only? Why couldn't it be 12 or even 1? Why the beginning of working hours? Why not till the entire working hours for the day? File an affidavit tomorrow itself," the judges told Shinde.

Meanwhile, another candidate whose nomination form was rejected for the Bhiwandi Constituency on similar grounds brought his case to the judges' attention. They indicated that they would hear this matter alongside the Bandra case on Tuesday.