RAIPUR: In a major relief to former chief minister
Ajit Jogi
, Chhattisgarh High Court has rejected the findings of high-powered caste scrutiny committee that examined the authenticity of his claim of belonging to a tribal community on the basis of which his tribal caste certificate was cancelled. The High Court has ordered constituting the high-powered committee afresh to examine the caste status.
The bench of chief justice T B Radhakrishnan and Justice Sharad Kumar Gupta passed the judgement on a petition filed by former chief minister Ajit Jogi, who challenged the high powered committee, its constitution and other aspects after the state government cancelled his caste certificate in June last year.
The row over Ajit Jogi’s caste status came in June last year at a time when the former chief minister quit the Congress and floated a new regional party with an aim to contest next year's assembly polls.
The row over Ajit Jogi's caste began about three decades ago during undivided Madhya Pradesh-almost immediately after he quit the
Indian Administrative Services
(IAS) and got elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress member. According to Jogi, no one had raised any question on his caste till 1986, till he was in government service. After he entered the Rajya Sabha, the first case over his caste was filed in Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court by one Manohar Dalal, allegedly at the behest of a Congress veteran. But within a year, the petition was dismissed without issuing any notice to Jogi.
After formation of Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi contested by-election from Marwahi (ST) constituency to become a member of the state assembly and won the election by an impressive margin. Later, Sant Kumar Netam filed a case challenging Jogi's caste status and the case lingered on for long from one court to another with Jogi getting a stay.
Later, the matter also went to the Supreme Court and the matter was referred to a high-power committee, constituted to examine caste related issues as per a previous Supreme Court directive of 1994 in a case of Madhur Patil versus the state of Maharashtra.
As there was a delay in committee's decision, Nandkumar Sai, a BJP leader who is now chairman of
National ST Commission-moved the High Court
which directed the state appointed high-power committee to submit its report by May 31 this year.
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