Bombay High Court cancels ex-filmstar, MP Navneet Kaur Rana's caste certificate

Nagpur: In a huge jolt, the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench on Tuesday struck down the caste certificate issued to Amravati Lok Sabha MP and ex-filmstar Navneet Kaur Rana on the grounds that it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents.

A division bench comprising Justice R. D. Dhanuka and Justice V. G. Bisht ordered her to surrender it within 6 weeks and imposed a fine of Rs 200,000 to be paid to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority within a fortnight.

Rana is the wife of independent MLA from Badnera, Ravi Rana, the founder of the Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP) and is a relative of yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

The judges noted that Rana's claims of belonging to the 'Mochi' caste' for obtaining a Scheduled Caste certificate itself was fraudulent and made with the intention to obtain various benefits available to a candidate from such a category despite knowing that she does not belong to that caste.

Navneet Kaur is a former model and actress who fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amravati (SC-reserved) constituency defeating veteran Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul.