Tripura MLA's SC certificate under question

Agartala, Jul 20 (UNI) The Tripura Vigilance department has discovered the fact of possession of fake Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate by Left Front Legislator Partha Das's family.

Official sources said here today that the state vigilance department found that one Chandan Das, a homeopathic doctor under the Tripura government and elder brother of newly elected RSP MLA Partha Das, had joined the service with a fake SC certificate. The department also detected that the family did not belong to the community.

The Vigilance authorities termed the practice as ''criminal offence'' and forwarded the report to the state SC Welfare department recommending penalty for Dr Das last week and subsequently it was referred to the concerned department for taking action.

The SC Welfare department conducted departmental enquiry into the case and found that Dr Das had first acquired the certificate from the West Tripura District Magistrate in 1975.

Subsequently, after six years of issuance of the certificate, that is in 1981, the authorities had issued SC certificate to his father Paresh Chandra Das and younger brother Partha Das, who was elected in the Assembly from SC reserved 31-Shalgarha constituency as RSP nominee.

''Since one certificate has been found fake it is suspected that the entire family managed SC certificate by producing fake documents and these have to be cancelled,'' a senior official of the state SC Welfare department said.

Meanwhile, leader of Tripura Legislative Assembly Ratan Lal Nath sent a fax message to the Election Commission yesterday seeking cessation of Mr Partha Das's membership from the Assembly, as he had submitted false affidavit to the Commission.

Mr Nath demanded independent inquiry over the issue according to Section 146 of Peoples' Representation Act, 1951, and taking appropriate action against the offenders.

The Opposition Congress also demanded cessation of the MLA's membership from the Legislative Assembly.

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