The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Bombay High Court judment cancelling the caste certificate of incumbent BJP MP from Amravati Navneet Kaur Rana, reports Bar and Bench.
A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Sanjay Karol thereby restored the caste certificate of Rana.
After the announcement by the top court, she said, “Those who raised questions on my birth got an answer today. I thank the Supreme Court. The truth always wins. This is a victory of those who walk on the path shown by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.”
The apex court said that the Bombay HC should not have interfered with the report of the scrutiny committee on the caste certificate matter.
“In the instant case, the Scrutiny Committee duly considered the documents before it and passed its decision complying with principles of natural justice. It did not merit any interference under Article 226. In light of the discussion and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the instant appeals stand allowed and the High Court order is set aside,” the Supreme Court bench said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.
In 2021, the HC had said that the “mochi” certificate was obtained by Rana fraudulently using fabricated documents, and imposing a fine of Rs two lakh on her. The court also said that records showed that she belonged to “Sikh-Chamar” caste.
The development came hours before she was likely to file her nomination as a BJP candidate from Amravati, which is a Scheduled Castes reserved constituency.
Rana recently joined the BJP, and had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from the Amravati constituency, backed by the Nationalist Congress Party.
Her caste certificate was challenged by Shiv Sena leader and former MP Anandrao Vithoba Adsul in a plea at the Bombay High Court.
The certificate was issued by the Mumbai Deputy Collector, and validated by the Mumbai Suburban District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee.