ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain has fallen short of his target after tentatively winning around 199 first preference votes in the preliminary counting rounds in the first five districts out of 37 in the Maharashtra & Goa Bar Council elections, with four other candidate building a potentially strong lead of first preference votes.

Law firm lawyers turned out in force for the Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council elections yesterday, having left ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain feeling confident of winning a seat by a comfortable margin.

The Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council polls closed yesterday (7 January), amid allegations of candidates having used “money, gifts and illegal methods”, according to a newspaper report.