Bombay high court stays criminal case against Solapur Member of Parliament

In a major respite to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Solapur, Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, the Bombay high court (HC) on

In a major respite to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Solapur, Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted the lawmaker interim relief in a caste certificate validity case. The court stayed the district caste validity committee’s decision which had declared Mahaswamiji’s caste certificate invalid and directed the registration of a criminal case against him.

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Mahaswamiji had challenged the February 24 decision of the committee which had stated that the caste certificate submitted by him while contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was invalid. The criminal case filed by Solapur police against him was also sought to be quashed in the plea.

While arguing against the committee’s decision, his counsel submitted that the authority in Akkalkot tehsil of Solpaur had verified that Mahaswamiji belonged to the Beda Jangam community, and had accordingly issued him a Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate in 1982. His counsel said the recent probe by the vigilance squad was conducted in haste and under pressure from a complainant and that Mahaswamiji was not afforded sufficient time to place the relevant documents as evidence.

The complainant in the case had challenged Mahswamiji’s caste validity, alleging he belonged to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community. The complaint was lodged after Mahaswamiji won the polls after defeating Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde by around 1.5 lakh votes from a constituency reserved for candidates belonging to SC.

Senior advocate Shreehari Aney, appearing for a complainant, opposed the MP’s plea and argued that the caste panel’s decision was justified. However, the division bench of justices KK Tated and Sarang Kotwal granted interim relief to the MP against action in the criminal case. The next hearing is on April 8.