Paridhi Arya
Published on June 13, 2022 at 14:40 IST
The Division Bench of Justices SG Mehare and RD Dhanuka dismissed a Petition filed by Shiv Sena MLA Latabai Sonawane stating that her father and sister didn’t belong to Tokri Koli tribe as there is no record showing it.
The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee denied Sonawane’s claim that she belonged to Tokri Koli tribe. The decision of the Committee was challenged in the Court.
From Jalgaon she won the election of Municipal Corporation as a reserved candidate and submitted the caste certificate to Scrutiny Committee. Meanwhile she won the Legislative Assembly election of Maharashtra from Chopda constituency.
The scrutiny of Certificate was still pending and vigilance report was called over it.
The Committee summoned her to give an explanation which she did not attend due to which her caste certificate was invalidated.
She approached the Bombay High Court against the invalidation where the Court allowed her to resubmit her certificate within seven days. The Court also directed to complete the validation process expeditiously. The Hon’ble Supreme Court also dismissed an appeal by the Respondents in the said case.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Jagdishchandra Valvi filed an objection before the Scrutiny Committee over her tribe.
The Scrutiny Committee concluded that there were entries contrary to the pre-independence entries that showed her blood relatives as belonging to Tokre Koli tribe. It, therefore, invalidated the caste certificate issued to her.
Sonawane challenged the decision on the ground that the oldest entry of Tokri Koli was discarded without stating a reason to it.
The Court stated “The record further reveals that there was contra evidence in the birth and death registers of her relatives. The ‘Koli’ caste has been consistently shown in the name of her father and grandfather. The school record of the petitioner and her sisters shows their caste as ‘Koli’, and it was not changed to date,”