Munde drags MCA to court for rejecting nomination

Peeved by the rejection of his nomination papers for the Mumbai Cricket Association presidential polls, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde moved a city court here Friday challenging the decision.

In his suit before the City Civil Court, Munde has contended that the rejection of his nomination papers by MCA election officer S. M. Gorwadkar was "illegal" and prayed that the presidential be held again.

The suit will come up for hearing Saturday.

Among other things, Munde has sought that Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, declared elected unopposed Thursday in the absence of any other candidates, should not take charge as MCA.

Even if he assumed charge, then he should not allowed to discharge his functions as the cricket body's chief, Munde prayed.

Besides the MCA and Gorwadkar, Munde has named outgoing president Ravi Savant, joint secretaries Nitin Dalal and P.V. Shetty and C.T. Sanghvi, on whose plea the election officer had acted, as respondents in the suit.

A keen contender in the MCA president's poll, Munde received a setback when his nomination papers were rejected on technical grounds.

Following his strong protests, he was given a hearing by the MCA, but his arguments were rejected after which Munde decided to move court.

The MCA had rejected Munde's nomination on grounds that his permanent residence was in Beed.

As per the MCA rules, only a Mumbai resident can become a member of its governing body.

While rejecting Munde's nominations, the MCA had invoked a Bombay High Court order of 2006 which said that though a person could have residences in different cities, the place where his name appears on the electoral rolls would be considered as the place of permanent residence.

Reacting to the developments, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that "the downfall has begun with the rejection of Munde's nomination papers for MCA polls."

"This is a severe setback to Munde's political career," Malik said.

Retorting to the criticism, Munde said that MCA has become "Pawar's fiefdom," and alleged that his nomination was rejected only to ensure that the NCP chief was elected unopposed to the post.