New Delhi, Oct 13: The Supreme Court today allowed the Chhattisgarh government to examine the authenticity of the caste certificate of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi who is alleged to be holding a fraudulent document for claiming a Scheduled Tribe status.
In a set back to the senior Congress leader, a bench headed by Justice R V Raveendran allowed the plea of the state governemnt challenging the Chhattisgarh High Court order which had restrained it from holding an inquiry into his caste status.
“The state government through a duly-constituted Scrutiny Committee shall now undertake the verification/scrutiny of the social status (tribal) certificates issued to the first respondent(Jogi) showing him as belonging to ‘Kanwar' Scheduled Tribe,” the bench said.
The state government had filed the SLP challenging the clean chit given to Jogi by the High Court on December 15, 2006.
The state governemnt submitted the High Court had passed the order in favour of Jogi without properly examining the evidence on record and the findings of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes which reportedly found prima facie evidence against the former Chief Minister.
