Khanapur MLA's election held invalid
Hyderabad, Nov 22 (INN): The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday declared the election of Telugu Desam candidate Suman Rathod from Khanapur Assembly segment in Adilabad district as 'invalid' as she did not belong to the Scheduled Tribe.
The Court however gave Ms Suman Rathod six weeks to file a petition against the ruling before its orders are implemented.
The Court had earlier ordered the government to produce the records and file a counter on the caste certificate of Ms Suman Rathod following complaints questioning her social status.
Following the directions of court, the government has conducted a probe and submitted a report on her caste.
The report states that Rathod was a native of Maharashtra and Lambadas in that state were treated as Backward Class.
However, the High court gave 6 weeks time to implement the court orders. Reacting on the court judgement, Rathod said she would move a petition in the Supreme Court seeking justice.
The High Court had on October 23, 2009, cancelled the caste certificate given by the Adilabad district Collector to Ms Suman Rathod.
The Collector had ruled that the MLA could be termed as 'belonging to the Backward Class' and not to the Scheduled Tribe, since she was a native of Maharashtra and Lambadas are treated as BCs in that state. Ms Suman Rathod had argued that she had married as a child suffered the same disadvantages as that of the local Scheduled Tribes and must be treated as such.
News Posted: 22 November, 2010
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