Mumbai court drops case against Navneet Rana over caste certificate issue

A Mumbai court on Wednesday discharged BJP leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Rana in a fake caste certificate case.

Her discharge plea was allowed by Judicial Magistrate First Class (Mazgaon court) A A Kulkarni. A reasoned order was not available yet.  However, the case against her father Harbhajansingh Kundless will continue as the court adjourned the matter to February 16 for framing of charges against him.  Rana, who claims to belong to a Scheduled Caste, is a former Independent Lok Sabha MP from Amravati (2019-24) in eastern Maharashtra. She later joined the BJP.  As per a complaint lodged at the Mulund police station in Mumbai, Rana and her father allegedly forged documents to obtain a caste certificate for her as the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, from where she contested, is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.  The Bombay High Court in 2021 cancelled the caste certificate issued to Rana, saying it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents. However, in April 2024, the Supreme Court restored Rana's Scheduled Caste certificate, enabling her to contest the Lok Sabha elections. However, she lost the 2024 elections in Amravati, where she was the BJP candidate. Discharge is a pre-trial legal remedy available to an accused person against whom there is insufficient evidence.