RAIPUR: Providing an interim relief to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, the High Court on Tuesday quashed the findings of a high-power committee that rejected him tribal status.
The court directed the state government to constitute a new committee to inquire afresh into the claim of the ex-CM.
Jogi had challenged the report of the earlier committee that inquired into his claim on belonging to ‘Kanwar’ tribal community. A division bench comprising of Chief Justice T B Radhakrishnan and Justice Sharad Kumar Gupta, admitting the petition of Jogi apparently found reasons into the objections raised by him and nullified the observations made by the committee.
The high-power committee which was constituted by the state government on a directive of the court to examine the legitimacy of Jogi’s caste had turned down the evidences that he submitted in support of his tribal status claim.
Following the decision by the panel, the Bilaspur collector too canceled the tribal certificate of Jogi. His native place Marwahi (a reserved tribal seat) is in Bilaspur.
The bureaucrat-turned-politician Jogi filed petition against the findings of the committee and the collector’s decision in the HC on 9 July 2017.
“Satyamev Jayate - truth alone triumphs. The Raman-empowered committee and the conspiracy hatched by the Congress party has finally been defeated. We have produced around 600-page petition in the court highlighting the gross illegalities committed by the panel, whose decision was politically motivated and a conspiracy against us”, Jogi asserted and further added that he was not served a notice even once during the entire process of scrutiny (over his caste claim) ever since the committee was constituted.
On January 25, 2017 the high court had directed the state to constitute a high-power committee to examine Jogi’s caste authenticity and conclude the findings by May 31. The HC then gave the order on a writ petition filed by the former
BJP MP Nand Kumar Sai who pointed out that Jogi had been claiming the tribal status through “forged” evidence.
The political analysts cited that the observation made by the court as a big relief for Jogi since the state is going to the polls later this year. “He might now get a chance to project himself better to reap political dividend”, said the political observer Parivesh Mishra.