Achi news desk-
Guwahati: The Guwahati High Court dismissed a petition filed by Kukrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarnia challenging the State Level Caste Scrutiny Commission (SLSC) order that he does not belong to the Bodo/Bodu Kachari community, which is a recognized ST (plain community in Assam.
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He revoked the Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate issued to Sarnia in 2011.
The court’s ruling effectively makes Sarnia, a two-term Lok Sabha member, ineligible for re-election from the Kukrajhar seat reserved for ST candidates.
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The constituency goes to the third phase elections on May 7.
The court ruled that it found no “illegality or impropriety” in SLSC’s order. He pointed out that Sarnia got the ST certificate only on October 17, 2011, and first contested elections from the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency reserved for ST candidates in 2014.
He was then re-elected in 2019.
Furthermore, the court also noted that Saranya’s father, who held a government post, never claimed that he belonged to the Bodo/Bodo Kachari community.
The SLSC’s decision follows another order issued by the Assam Tribal Affairs (Plains) Department on January 20, which invalidated the caste certificate originally issued by the Assam Tribal Sangha’s district unit, Tamulpur, in October 2011.
