The Calcutta High Court recently while hearing a plea alleging issuance of fake Schedule caste certificate to a candidate contesting from a schedule caste constituency, imposed costs of Rs. 50,000 on the petitioner for concealing the fact that he himself was also a contesting candidate in the concerned Bidhannagar municipal polls.
Factual Background
In the present case, the petitioner alleged that although ward number 20 constituencies of Bidhannagr Municipal Corporation, belonging to the Schedule caste community, the respondent decided to contest elections for the concerned constituency by obtaining fake schedule caste certificate.
Case of the Petitioner
The petitioner had sought for a direction to produce the record pertaining to grant of Schedule Caste Certificate by the Sub- Divisional Officer to the respondent. It was further contended that the Director General of Police must be asked to investigate into the status of the ancestors and other family members of the respondent so as to find out whether any of the relatives possess any schedule caste certificate.
Petitioner was also seeking for directions to be issued to the State to look for records to find out whether the respondent had availed any benefit reserved for the schedule caste students during his academic period.
Observation of the Court
At the time of hearing, the Court was apprised of the fact that by the State Election Commission that the petitioner is also contesting elections and is an independent candidate from the same constituency, however the same fact was not disclosed by the petitioner.
In the words of the Court,
“The petitioner has suppressed this fact in the petition that he is one of the candidates contesting election of the concerned municipal corporation. This amounts to gross suppression of fact and the present writ petition is liable to be dismissed with costs on the sole ground of suppressing the fact”.
“The fact now revealed by the respondent’s shows that the petition is by one contesting candidate against another. This fact has changed the entire complexion of the case. Hence, we dismiss this writ petition by imposing costs of Rs.50,000 which is to be deposited by the petitioner with the Legal Service Authority within a period of two weeks from today”.
Case Details
Before: Calcutta High Court
Case Title: Tapan Saha v. State Election Commissioner & Ors
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Chief Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj
Picture Source :
