Bombay High Court Cancels Caste Certificate Of First-Time Maharashtra MP

A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and V G Bisht also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh, which Navneet Kaur Rana needs to pay to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within a period of two weeks.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday cancelled the caste certificate issued to Amravati Lok Sabha member Navneet Kaur Rana, saying it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents, and directed her to surrender it within six weeks. A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and V G Bisht also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh, which she needs to pay to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within a period of two weeks. The High Court noted that the claim of belonging to 'Mochi' caste made by Ms Rana for obtaining the Scheduled Caste certificate itself was fraudulent and made with an intention to obtain various benefits available to a candidate from such category, despite knowing she does not belong to that caste. Ms Rana was elected from Maharashtra's Amravati Lok Sabha seat in 2019. She is an Independent MP backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).