Allegations of bogus caste certificate have been levied against ex-municipal councillor Prakash Bobdi, of Bandra constituency (ward 75).
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Bobdi's brother's caste certificate which states that he is from scheduled caste |
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Caste cerificate which states that Bobdi belongs to the OBC category |
Sunday MiD DAY has acquired three sets of School Leaving certificates, apparently issued to/produced by Bobdi, who completed his five-year tenure as a municipal councilor in 2007.
The first certificate, which bears the name of BPI Society Municipal High School, Bandra register no 5,966, clearly mentions his caste as simply Hindu.
Subsequently, two additional School Leaving certificates (SMD has the Certified True copies by the Andheri Tehsildar), which do not mention the school's name and have some portions deleted /overwritten in the caste section, mention that he is a Hindu M Koli (M stands for Mahadeo or Mallahar Koli, which falls under the category of Scheduled Tribe as per the Government of Maharashtra Resolution pertaining to The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendments) Act, 1976).
An RTI (right to information) filed by Pratab Katkade to procure copies of documents produced by Bobdi, while submitting his nomination form for the elections held in 2002, yielded a fourth set of documents, which have been apparently certified by a Special Executive Officer, and indicated his caste as OBC.
Katkade, a Khar resident, who has now approached the Division Bench of High Court to intervene, claimed that he could not file the case earlier, as he did not have the requisite papers to support his allegations.
"I have been pursuing the matter since 2006. It took me over two years just to procure the caste-related documents. If proved in a court of law, such offences are a stigma on democracy and should be punished," alleged Katkade.
Ashish Shellar, the current Muncipal Corporator, when contacted, confirmed the allegations against his predecessor. "Investigations are underway to uncover if a caste certificate has been misused. A person belonging to scheduled tribe cannot contest elections reserved for OBC candidate".
When contacted, Prakash Bobdi brushed aside the allegations as baseless and misleading. He stated that the case had already been decided in his favour by the small cause court and he had documents to prove it.
He said, "I belong to the Koli or fishermen community, who reside along the coastal belt of Maharashtra and come under the category of special backward class which, as per the law, translates in to OBC category."
Siblings of different castes?
During its investigations, SMD also acquired a copy of the caste certificate issued to Prakash Panurang Bobdi's brother Harish Pandurang Bobdi, which categorically states that he belongs to Mahadeo Koli community, which raises another question: can a pair of siblings sharing a common ancestry belong to two different castes?
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