A division bench of the High Court had rapped the chief minister for pressurising government officials into taking illegal action to benefit his son-in-law Girish Vyas who had build a commercial complex on a Pune plot reserved for a school. This, the division bench of Justices B N Srikrishna and S S Parkar, said was ``a misuse of executive powers vested in a chief executive of the state.''

Thus, despite elaborate submissions made by Joshi, both Shiv Sena as well as BJP cabinet members feel that it is risky to nominate him in view of the strictures against him. ``We feel that since the high court had specifically observed that Joshi misusedhis office to favour his son-in-law Girish Vyas, at the scrutiny stage itself, there is a possibility of his nomination form being rejected,'' according to a BJP Minister.

Senior officials of the election branch have endorsed the views of the BJP Minister, saying, the Election Commission of India has prescribed comprehensive guidelines on what constitutes corruption. ``In the series of guidelines to the District Collectors and Returning Officers, the Commission had observed that the spirit of the court orders should be taken into consideration while scrutinising the nomination forms,'' a senior official said.

In case of Manohar Joshi, accept his nomination form will be the discretion of the Returning Officer. ``If any of the candidates taken objection on the nomination form on the ground that he has been charged with misuse of power, the Returning Officer will have to pass a verbal order. In that case, either of parties will move the court against the order. If the order is in favour of Joshi, then thecomplainant will file a petition and if the objection is upheld, then Joshi will knock the door of justice,'' the official said.

The official said in view of the high court, whether Joshi violates the provisions of the Representation of People Act, is a matter of interpretation. Under the provisions of the legislation, if one is held guilty of misuse of power, then he is not eligible to contest the election since misuse of power amounts to corruption. ``At the moment, we do not have the certified copy of the court verdict. However, from the media reports, it appears that Joshi has been charged with misuse of power. If it is so, then his nomination is liable to be rejected,'' the official added.

However, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today said that there was no risk in nominating Joshi.

``Since Joshi himself has examined the pros and cons of the high court verdict against him, I do not think that there is any risk in his candidature. Joshi has informed me that he is moving the Supreme Court againstthe order immediately after the receipt of the certified copy of the order,'' Thackeray told The Indian Express.

According to a Senior Sena leader, in view of the severe strictures against Joshi, the party was considering to nominate former Mayor Vishakha Raut from the North Central parliamentary constituency and Shakha Pramukh Vinod Khopkar from Dadar assembly constituency represented by the former Chief Minister. However, after detailed submissions made by Joshi that the court verdict will not come in his way, the party apparently decided to nominate him for the parliamentary constituency and Raut from the Dadar assembly constituency.