A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol ruled in favor of Ms Rana.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today quashed the Bombay High Court’s decision to cancel the caste certificate of Amravati MP and BJP leader Navneet Kaur Rana. This verdict comes as a big relief to Ms Rana, the BJP candidate for the Amravati Lok Sabha seat and who is expected to file her nomination today.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol ruled in Ms Rana’s favor and said the Supreme Court had erred by interfering with the audit committee’s report on her caste certificate. The Supreme Court had earlier canceled Rana’s ‘mochi’ caste certificate on the grounds of fraudulent tenders using fabricated documents on June 8, 2021. Moreover, it imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on Rana, claiming that documents showed that she was up to the ‘Sikh group’ belonged. Chamar caste.
Ms Rana, who won the reserved Amravati parliamentary seat in Maharashtra as an independent candidate in 2019, recently joined the BJP and is all set to contest from the same constituency. Expressing her optimism ahead of filing her nomination papers, Ms. Rana said this election opportunity represents a monumental occasion for both her and the voters of Amravati.
“I have been working for the people of my region for many years. This is a big day for me and my constituency. This is the first time that voters in Amravati will get an opportunity to vote for nation building, development and benefit of the nation,” she said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
“The people in my constituency are happier than me. They are happy that the lotus symbol will appear on the ballot box for the first time. The people will directly support and vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she added.
Ms Rana entered politics after her marriage to BJP leader Ravi Rana. Initially joining the NCP, she contested her first election from Amravati in 2014 but faced defeat.
Maharashtra’s 48 parliamentary constituencies will go to the polls in five phases: April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20.
During the 2019 elections, the BJP emerged victorious in 23 of the 25 seats it contested, while the allied Shiv Sena won 18 of the 23 seats it contested. In the 2014 elections, the BJP claimed 23 seats and Shiv Sena 18. The NCP won 4 seats, while the Congress won only 2 seats.