HC notice to ECI on plea seeking CCTV footage of assembly seat won by Fadnavis in 2024

Nagpur: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Election Commission of India on a petition seeking copies of videography and CCTV footage of the Nagpur South-west assembly seat from where Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was elected.

The Nagpur bench of the court also issued notices to the Maharashtra Chief Electoral office and the Nagpur district collector.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Congress member Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe, who lost to Fadnavis in the constituency in November 2024, seeking copies of the footage.

Gudadhe had earlier this year also filed a petition challenging Fadnavis's victory from Nagpur South-west, alleging procedural lapses and corrupt practices in his election. In the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, Gudadhe had lost to Fadnavis, the BJP candidate, by 39,710 votes.

The petitioner's advocate, Akash Moon, on Tuesday sought a direction to the ECI and other authorities to supply a copy of the entire video and CCTV footage of the constituency recorded during the polls.

The plea also sought, by way of interim relief, a direction to authorities to not delete the footage and maintain the election records of the high-profile constituency.

The bench orally said since the court is seized of the matter, all records shall be retained, and posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.

Three similar petitions, related to election of candidates from Akot (Akola district), Buldhana and Nagpur South assembly seats, were also heard by the bench.

In all the four pleas, notices were issued by the court.

Last month, the Nagpur bench had issued a notice to Fadnavis on an election petition challenging his 2024 win from Nagpur South-west.