AMID claims by all parties about their fight for the OBC quota, the BMC and the government’s caste scrutiny department have miserably failed in initiating criminal proceedings against candidates who submit bogus caste certificates to gain an unfair advantage over their rivals.  In early 2022, Vikhroli-based Zariruddin Khan sought to know under the Right to Information Act if an FIR had been registered against former corporator Rahebar Siraj Khan for allegedly providing a fake caste certificate.

The RTI applicant was taken aback to learn that no agency has taken any action yet. In fact, the BMC and the caste scrutiny committee pointed fingers at each other when it came to taking the initiative to register an FIR.   The RTI applicant said BMC  officials claimed it is the caste scrutiny and validity department which should be registering an offence, while the state government department claimed otherwise.