HC dismisses petition of woman belonging to Nomadic Tribe who won OBC seat in 2017 civic poll by submitting husband's caste certificate
The Bombay High Court recently held that caste is by virtue of birth and not marriage, effectively disqualifying a woman corporator belonging to the Nomadic Tribe (NT) who had won the Solapur Municipal Corporation election held in February 2017 by using her husband's Other Backward Castes (OBC) certificate.
Solapur Municipal Corporation elections were held in February 2017
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The HC also dismissed her petition challenging the delay by the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee, which is supposed to complete the scrutiny within six months from the time of election, in deciding on her caste claim.
(Not) caste in stone
Anuradha Katkar, 49, had contested the election on a Congress (I) ticket for a seat under the OBC category. While filling the election form, she submitted documents showing her caste as 'Tambat', same as her husband's. Her form was accepted and she won.
As per norms, the scrutiny committee (Solapur) had directed her to submit the caste documents from her father's side. She submitted the same, which showed the caste as 'Lohar' (NT). On March 10, the State Election Commission told the secretary of the Town Planning Department, Mantra-laya, that an order regarding cancellation of election of the candidate be passed with retrospective effect.
In July, the caste validity procedure was started in Beed. In the meanwhile, Katkar had requested the director of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research & Training Institute, Pune, to decide on the caste claim at the earliest. And in the event that it wasn't decided on before the cut-off date, the scrutiny committee at Solapur would be held responsible. On July 28, the committee informed Katkar that the decision was delayed due to the unavailability of its president and secretary.
In the courtroom
Advocate A B Tajane, appearing for Katkar, submitted that she wasn't at fault for failing to produce the Caste Validity Certificate before cut-off date, and that the committee had delayed. He added that though Katkar contested as a Tambat, she did furnish documents from her father's side, and hence, the committee shouldn't disqualify her in accordance with section 5B of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949.
Additional Government Pleader A P Vansare, however, argued that as per the SC it was clear that the petitioner couldn't rely on her husband's caste to contest election. A division bench of Justices Vasanti A Naik and Riyaz Chagla then said, "A woman can't rely on her husband's caste to contest for a seat reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate." "The petitioner was wrongfully elected as corporator… her petition deserves to be dismissed," it added.
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