Both Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik were also denied the permission to vote in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections after the Bombay high court dismissed their bail pleas. The NCP leaders are currently in judicial custody in money laundering cases.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and state minority affairs minister Nawab Malik to cast vote in the legislative council elections that ended at 4pm today.
Both the politicians moved the apex court earlier in the day after the Bombay high court dismissed their bail petitions on Friday (June 17).
As many as ten seats and 11 candidates are in the fray for the Maharashtra legislative council (MLC) polls. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is one of the members of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the western state, has a total of 51 legislators. To win a council seat, a candidate will require 26 to 27 votes depending on the numbers pulled. With NCP leaders Malik and Deshmukh denied bail by the top court now as well, the competition remains stiff.
All the ruling allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi fielded two candidates each for the MLC polls. The opposition BJP nominated as many as five candidates.
Notably, the counting of the votes is likely to commence shortly though it may be delayed as the Congress party has taken objections against BJP MLAs who used helpers to cast their votes. The grand old party’s complaint said that usage of helpers is a violation of conduct of election rules 1961.
As many as 285 legislators from all political parties cast their votes till 4pm.
Both Deshmukh and Malik were also denied the permission to vote in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections after the Bombay high court refused their bail pleas. The NCP leaders are currently in judicial custody in money laundering cases.
Deshmukh was arrested in November last year in connection with a corruption case levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, while Malik was held in February this year by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case against fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his associates.
