SC defers hearing on plea relating to caste certificate cancellation of Maha MP Navneet Kaur Rana
New Delhi, Aug 29: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing on a plea filed by Maharashtra’s Amravati MP Navneet Kaur Rana against an order of the Bombay High Court which had cancelled her Scheduled Caste certificate.
A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and K.V. Vishwanathan fixed the plea for further hearing on September 5.
Earlier in June 2021, the Supreme Court had stayed the operation of the Bombay High Court which cancelled her caste certificate saying it was obtained by using fabricated documents. It had remarked that the High Court ought to have sent the matter back to the committee for fresh consideration.
Complainants, at whose instance the High Court had cancelled Rana’s caste certificate, opposed the extension of SC stay order saying that she has been enjoying a stay for two years and continues as a Member of Parliament.
In her special leave petition, Rana pleaded that the terms Mochi and Chamar are synonymous, and the scrutiny committee had decided her caste status based on original records produced before it.
The High Court had reversed the scrutiny committee’s decision on writ petitioners’ claim that the vigilance committee had found that documents were fabricated. In its order, the HC had also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh, which Rana was to deposit with the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within two weeks.
Rana, a first-time Member of Parliament (MP), had successfully contested the Amravati Lok Sabha seat in 2019, reserved for Scheduled Castes.
