HC Aurangabad Bench orders preservation of EVMs

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Justice Santosh Chapalgaonkar of the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Election Commission and the Returning Officer to preserve the EVMs and CCTV footage related to Ward No. 16 (A and B) of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation elections, following petitions challenging the results.

In the January 15, 2026 polls, Sangita Sangale and Raju Wadekar were declared elected. CPI candidate adv Abhay Taksal and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) candidate Zahurabi Khan filed petitions before the Civil Judge (Senior Division), alleging that during counting the EVM showed the polling date as January 14 instead of January 15, some symbols were unclear, and certain buttons were not functioning, particularly at Booth No. 32. A written complaint citing suspected tampering was submitted on polling and counting days. Petitions (Nos. 14/2026 and 15/2026) seek cancellation of the election and a re-poll. As EVM data is erased 45 days after polling under Election Commission rules, the petitions were filed on March 2, 2026, through adv Ravindra V. Gore, assisted by adv Gautam Pahilwan and adv Shubham Shinde, after an earlier plea for interim custody of records was rejected.