Achi news desk-
A symbolic image
– Photo: ANI
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The Supreme Court in Guwahati rejected the petition of Member of Parliament, Nava Sarnia, which was given to him, challenging the order of the State-level Commission of Inquiry to cancel the status of the scheduled tribe (the plains). Assam Solicitor General Devjit Saikia said a single bench of Justice SK Medhi gave this order.
Saikia said, by not granting him relief, the court had effectively barred him from contesting elections from any constituency reserved for ST or other categories. Sarnia has been representing the Kokrajhar (ST) constituency as an independent MP since 2014. He has announced to contest elections from the same seat for the third consecutive time.
Voting for the Lok Sabha seat will be held on May 7. The SLSC, in an order dated January 12, 2024, barred him from contesting from the reserved seat considering that he does not belong to the ST(P) community. Later, the state Tribal Affairs Department (Maidan) passed an order on January 20, revoking Sarnia’s caste certificate issued on October 17, 2011.
Sarnia claimed that he belongs to the Boro Kachari community, which has notified ST(P) status, and is a Lok Sabha member from the constituency reserved for that community.
