SC Upholds Navneet Kaur Rana's Caste Certificate Validity

The Supreme Court overturned the Bombay High Court's decision regarding the caste certificate of BJP MP Navneet Rana from Amravati, upholding her certificate. The top court, comprising justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, stated that the high court should not have intervened with the scrutiny committee's report on Rana's caste certificate.

"In the instant case, the Scrutiny Committee duly considered the documents before it and passed its decision complying with principles of natural justice. It did not merit any interference under Article 226. In light of the discussion and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the instant appeals stand allowed and the High Court order is set aside."

Rana was accused of using fabricated documents to obtain a scheduled caste certificate for contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from the reserved constituency of Amravati.

The development comes shortly before Rana was scheduled to submit her nomination papers as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the Amaravati constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The high court had earlier cancelled her 'mochi' caste certificate, imposed a Rs 2 lakh fine, and stated that she belonged to the 'Sikh-Chamar' caste. However, the Supreme Court's recent decision has reversed this ruling, allowing Rana to retain her caste certificate.

The Bombay High Court had previously ruled that the terms 'Chamar' and 'Sikh Chamar' were not interchangeable.

In 2021, the High Court stated, "In our view, the terms 'Chamar' and 'Sikh Chamar' are not synonymous. The term 'Sikh Chamar' is also not synonymous with the term 'Mochi' prescribed under entry 11 to Schedule II to the Constitution of India (Scheduled Caste), Order 1950."