The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a June 2021 Bombay high court order cancelling Amravati Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Rana’s scheduled caste certificate.
The high court ruled Rana obtained and validated her certificate by submitting fabricated and fraudulent documents to a scrutiny committee. It fined her ₹2 lakh while directing her to surrender the certificate.
A Supreme Court bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol said the scrutiny committee’s order did not merit the high court’s interference. “In the instant case, the scrutiny committee passed the order after due application of mind and after hearing all parties in detail,” it said. “Considering the peculiar circumstances, we allow the appeal [of Rana]. The order of the high court is set aside.”
The Supreme Court’s 2021 stay on the high court order allowed Rana’s continuation as an independent MP. Rana, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the April-June national polls, is contesting the election from the reserved constituency of Amravati (Maharashtra).
Former Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul challenged Rana’s caste certificate in the high court citing “collusion” and “fabrication” of documents presented to the committee.
The scrutiny committee in November 2017 rejected Rana’s claim of being Ravidasia Mochi but accepted her to be Sikh Chamar to award her a Mochi caste certificate.
{{/usCountry}}The scrutiny committee in November 2017 rejected Rana’s claim of being Ravidasia Mochi but accepted her to be Sikh Chamar to award her a Mochi caste certificate.
{{/usCountry}}Adsul told the high court that the committee erred by accepting her claim to be Sikh Chamar, which is not a recognised scheduled caste in the Presidential Order for Maharashtra.
Rana questioned the high court order saying it could not have conducted a fact-finding inquiry. She added if there were any shortcomings in the committee findings, the matter ought to have been returned to the panel.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Shadan Farasat, who appeared for Adsul, argued Rana claimed to belong to the Sikh Chamar caste and simultaneously produced documents claiming she is Ravidasia Mochi by relying on some purported certificates from Punjab. They added this was done after her initial documents showing she belonged to the Mochi caste were found to be forged and fabricated.
Sibal earlier this year requested the Supreme Court to take up the matter as the term of the Lok Sabha would expire before May.