India, June 24 -- The Bombay high court imposed a Rs.5 lakh penalty on Ashish Savant, sarpanch of a Nandgaon village in Raigad, for having a fraudulent caste certificate, which came to light after a complaint filed against him during the gram panchayat elections in 2024. The court said that using a fraudulent caste certificate was a constitutional fraud.

Savant's opponent in the election, Jalindar Khaire, had filed a complaint with the Raigad District Caste Scrutiny Committee questioning Savant's Kunbi caste status after losing the election to him. The scrutiny committee, after a detailed inquiry, passed an order calling his caste certificate fraudulent and invalidating his caste claim. Savant then approached the high court claiming he h...