LegalAware
LegalAware.ai
EMPOWERING LEGAL AWARENESS

State Election Commission vs Shakti Singh Barthwal & Anr.

Not available · 2025 INSC 1261Decided 28 Oct 2025
Not available
Justice Vikram Nath

Background

The State Election Commission of Uttarakhand had earlier filed a Special Leave Petition against a Uttarakhand High Court interlocutory order that stayed a clarification issued by the Commission. On 26.09.2025, the Supreme Court dismissed that petition with costs of Rs. 2,00,000 after its counsel, despite being told at least six times that the Court saw no reason to interfere, kept insisting the Court pass some order. The Commission then filed this Miscellaneous Application asking the Court to expunge its critical remarks about counsel's conduct and waive the costs imposed.

Decision Breakdown

The Court heard the applicant's counsel, who tendered an unconditional and bona fide apology, backed by assurances from senior members of the Bar (Mr. Vikas Singh, Senior Advocate, and Mr. Vipin Nair, Advocate) that such conduct would not recur. The Court reiterated that once it has indicated its mind on a matter, counsel are expected to respect that and not persist, since orderly functioning of the Court depends on the Bench and Bar working in harmony. Considering that this was the counsel's first such incident before the Bench and given the sincere apology, the Court allowed the application, deleting both the adverse remarks and the Rs. 2 lakh cost, but cautioned that such conduct must not be repeated.

Lesson Learnt

Lawyers must respect a court's clearly expressed inclination during arguments rather than persisting regardless; while courts can show leniency for a first, genuinely apologetic lapse, repeated defiance of the Bench risks real costs and censure.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

More rulings in Election Law

Election LawSupreme Court of India

V. Pon. Paneerselvam v. S. Regupathy & Ors.

The Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition and upheld the election petition's dismissal. It held that presentation by the petitioner under Section 81 of the Representation of the People Act was mandatory, with non-compliance attracting dismissal under Section 86 rather than a later opportunity to cure it. The Madras High Court rule specifying personal presentation before a Registry officer validly regulated receipt of the petition and did not conflict with the Act. The entry pass and asserted CCTV evidence showed, at most, presence in the building rather than personal presentation, while the security-deposit receipt named counsel. The Court distinguished a precedent accepting delivery through an advocate's clerk in the petitioner's immediate presence, because that was not the factual case asserted here; the election allegations were not decided on their merits.

Decided 7 Oct 2026Read case
Election LawSupreme Court of India

Dr. Jaya Thakur v. Union of India

This is a split decision, not a final judgment. The two judges disagreed on whether the case must first go to a Constitution Bench under Article 145(3) of the Constitution. Justice Datta would have heard the petitions, while Justice Sharma held that a reference was needed. Because of the disagreement, the papers were placed before the Chief Justice of India to set up a larger bench. The Court did not rule on whether the 2023 Act is valid.

Decided 23 Sept 2026Read case
Election LawDelhi High Court

Manav Adhikar Kalyan Mishan Sanstha vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Ors.

The Court found the petitioner to be a "busybody" making vague, unsubstantiated allegations without proper legal standing, noting also that the Supreme Court itself had directed these very elections to be completed on a strict timeline given their importance for finalizing Delhi's street-vending plan. It held that a challenge to an already-concluded election must be brought as a specific election petition targeting a particular candidate or seat, not as a general public interest litigation filed after results are out. The petition was dismissed, with Rs. 10,000 in costs imposed personally on the society's president for filing what the Court considered a frivolous case.

Decided 10 Sept 2026Read case
Election LawSupreme Court of India

Tankadhar Tripathy v. Dipali Das

The Supreme Court reaffirmed settled law that a Form 25 affidavit defect in an election petition is curable and does not automatically make the petition invalid, provided there is "substantial compliance" with the requirement: a stricter, all-or-nothing approach from an older 2000 judgment has since been superseded by more recent rulings favoring a liberal, curable approach. However, the Court found that the High Court's order did not properly explain what specific defects existed in the affidavit or whether they amounted to substantial compliance, so it sent the matter back to the High Court to conduct that analysis properly and decide whether the defect can be, and was, cured within the law's time limits.

Decided 22 Aug 2025Read case
Election LawSupreme Court of India

Ajmera Shyam v. Kova Laxmi

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that not every non-disclosure in a nomination affidavit is fatal to an election. The law distinguishes between criminal-antecedent disclosures (treated strictly) and disclosures of assets, income, or educational qualifications (which only void an election if the omission is of a "substantial" character that could have materially affected the result). Since Kova Laxmi had disclosed her assets, PAN, occupation, and income source, and no candidate had objected during scrutiny of nominations, the missing income-tax figures were held inconsequential and not proven to be deliberate concealment.

Decided 14 Aug 2025Read case
Election LawSupreme Court of India

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam v. Thiru. C.Ve. Shanmugam

The Court held that its earlier "Common Cause" line of judgments never barred naming a scheme after a political leader. They only restricted publishing photographs of political figures in government advertisements, an area that has itself since been relaxed to permit photos of the President, Prime Minister, Governors, Chief Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. The Court noted that naming welfare schemes after leaders is a nationwide, cross-party practice (evidenced by 45 examples from other states) and found it suspicious that the petitioner singled out only one party's scheme while ignoring identical practices elsewhere, especially having rushed to court within three days of an ECI complaint without giving the Commission or the State a chance to respond. Concluding the writ petition was "misconceived in law" and "an abuse of the process of law," the Court quashed the High Court's interim order, dismissed the writ petition, and imposed costs of Rs. 10,00,000 on the petitioner (to be used for welfare-scheme implementation), with contempt proceedings threatened if unpaid.

Decided 6 Aug 2025Read case