Status: Not ApprovedHEAD: 25_Kol_SL_Subrata Chattoraj Calcutta HC directs cancellation of Pradhan OBCByline: Srishti LakhotiaSubrata ChattorajKolkata: Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), Tamluk, to cancel the OBC certificate of the TMC pradhan of Iswarpur panchayat, Khukurani Mondal Ghorai, within one week. Ghorai fought for the seat reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the 2023 panchayat polls.“Once the Sub-Divisional Officer came to the conclusion that the pradhan does not belong to the OBC community, the Sub-Divisional Officer ought to pass an order of cancellation of the OBC certificate, but to date no action is being taken for cancellation of the OBC certificate,” Justice Krishna Rao held.There were two cases filed—one by the BJP candidate for Iswarpur panchayat seeking cancellation of Khukurani’s OBC certificate, and another by Khukurani to set aside the SDO’s order holding that she did not belong to the OBC community. The case was heard by Justice Krishna Rao.Ranajit Rakshit contested the Panchayat Elections, 2023 under the banner of the Bharatiya Janata Party as an Other Backward Classes candidate (Kansari). His contention was that the post of pradhan, Iswarpur Gram Panchayat, was reserved for OBC.Subsequent to the elections, Ranajit came to know that the OBC certificate relied upon by Khukurani was obtained fraudulently. It was shown that the SDO, on July 23, 2025, held that Khukurani did not belong to the OBC community, sub-caste Tanti (Tantubaya). However, no step was taken to cancel the certificate.Meanwhile, the pradhan’s defence was that she obtained the certificate in 2013, based on which she fought the panchayat polls in 2013 and 2018. Her claim was that Ranajit filed the ‘false’ case to take revenge after losing in the polls. She stated that, at the time of the hearing by the SDO in 2025, she could not produce documents as she lost them during Cyclone Aila.END MSID:: 128780306 413 |
