In a temporary relief to Amravati Lok Sabha member Navneet Kaur Rana, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Bombay High Court judgment that cancelled her caste certificate.
The Vacation Bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari set aside the High Court verdict and issued notice to Maharashtra and others including the person who had complained against the caste certificate of the lawmaker.
Observing that Rana has obtained a caste certificate belonging to Mochi Scheduled caste fraudulently using fabricated documents, the Bombay high court had cancelled it and also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on her. Thereafter, Rana moved the Apex Court challenging the verdict.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Amravati MP, submitted that the terms Mochi and chamaar are synonymous, and the scrutiny committee had decided her caste status based on original records produced before it. Further, he argued that the High Court decision was erroneous as it entered into factual determination in a writ petition, ignoring several documents.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the vigilance committee had found that many documents were fabricated.
The bench then asked Mr.Sibal to file a counter-affidavit in the matter.
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Meanwhile, former MP Anand Rao Adsul had filed the petition in the High Court against Rana alleging that she had filed a forged certificate. She got it validated fraudulently from the Caste Scrutiny Committee by producing fabricated and fraudulent documents, to be in the eligibility criteria of filing the nomination.
Rana contested from Amravati and won against Adsul. She had entered politics in 2014 on an NCP ticket but lost the election. However, in 2019, she contested as an independent and reached the Lok Sabha after winning the election.