Nagpur: The Bombay high court on Tuesday cancelled the caste certificate issued to Amravati Lok Sabha member Navneet Rana, saying it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents, and directed her to surrender it within six weeks.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs2 lakh on the MP.
The HC noted that the claim of belonging to ‘Mochi’ caste made by Navneet for obtaining the scheduled caste certificate was fraudulent and made with an intention to obtain benefits available to a candidate from such category.
Upset over the judgment, Navneet said she would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
Terming the HC verdict unexpected, Navneet, wife of Badnera MLA Ravi Rana, alleged “political khichadi” behind the controversy over her caste certificate.
“Like a responsible citizen of India, I respect the HC verdict and through my lawyers I would be filing an appeal in the apex court seeking a stay on the HC order.
The HC has also granted me six weeks to move to the top court, which is currently on vacation,” the MP told TOI from New Delhi.
Navneet Rana, a former model and actress, contested 2019 Lok Sabha election from Amravati (SC-reserved) constituency as an independent supported by Congress-NCP and RPI and defeated veteran Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul.
Adsul had later filed a petition in the HC seeking cancellation of the caste certificate dated August 30, 2013 issued by Mumbai deputy collector, identifying Navneet as belonging to ‘Mochi’ caste.
Calling herself a “fighter”, Navneet said she was working for the people of Amravati for the last nine years without any godfather and would challenge the case in SC too.
“The district committee, which was formed as per the Supreme Court guidelines, had issued me the caste validity certificate twice after thoroughly scrutinizing all documents.
Voters have democratically elected me as an MP and my public service will continue uninterrupted,” she said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena workers in Amravati celebrated the high court decision cancelling Navneet Rana’s caste certificate.