A BJP corporator who won the 2012 Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation elections from a seat reserved for OBCs was disqualified by the civic body on Monday after her caste certificate was declared invalid. Saraswati Mayekar’s disqualification was upheld by the Bombay high court on Wednesday.
After Mayekar won from ward 4 in Bhayander (east) in the OBC category, Namrata Vaity, a defeated candidate, moved court challenging the validity of her caste certificate. Subsequently, the court directed a three-member scrutiny committee to examine the certificate. On November 29, the panel declared the caste certificate invalid and sent a communicated to MBMC on December 20. Vaity too wrote to MBMC commissioner Naresh Gite seeking Mayekar’s disqualification.
After Gite issued an order on December 26 disqualifying Mayekar, she moved court against the move. On Wednesday, Justice A K Menon upheld the disqualification.