MUMBAI: The State Election Commission (SEC) is of the view that prima facie, the action of the Colaba returning officer (RO) Krishna Jadhav who did not allow the AAP and Janata Dal candidates to file their nominations on Dec 30, 2025 was legally sound and followed the rules, sources said. However, the SEC has sought an additional report from the observer before reaching a definite conclusion.The two parties had complained that the RO acted at the behest of state assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who is from the BJP. Three of his relatives are contesting the BMC elections, and he was present at the RO’s office when the nominations were being filed, the parties had stated.
After AAP lodged a complaint with the SEC, the BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has submitted a report pointing out that although Jadhav’s actions were legally sound, he should have been administratively careful. The two had alleged that nomination forms of their candidates were not accepted though they had received tokens and were present in the RO’s office before the 5 pm deadline on the last day for filing nominations.
However, Jadhav’s contention was that the rules require the candidates to be inside his cabin, not just on the office premises by the 5 pm deadline. He also stated that he made several announcements on this.However, in his report, Gagrani pointed out that the candidates had been given tokens and were present on the office premises of the RO. Hence, Jadhav should have been administratively careful and prudent, his report said.Although the provision of tokens is not mentioned in the election rules, it has become established practice to provide tokens to voters queuing up at polling booths on voting day close to the deadline. Those given the tokens are allowed to vote. Hence this may have created confusion, officials said.
