Former Mumbai mayor sacked from House for faking caste

Former Mumbai mayor and Congress corporator R.R. Singh was on Wednesday disqualified from the House by a zonal caste verification committee for producing a fake caste certificate while contesting the ward number 221 in Mulund.

The committee invalidated the caste certificate produced by Singh. Issued by the Office of the Collector, Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban District (Magisterial Branch), on August 28, 1993, the certificate had stated that Singh belonged to the Kunbi caste, listed in Maharashtra’s OBC list. Sources said he belongs to the Kurmi caste, which falls in UP’s OBC category.

The committee asked the Collector, Mumbai City, to initiate criminal proceedings under the IPC against Singh for producing fake certificate, false affidavits and false information about his place of residence. It cited the October 5 official clarification issued by the Office of the Collector and District Magistrate, Mumbai City, denying that it had issued the certificate to Singh. The certificate had been originally issued to Ajit Ravindra Dhake.

Municipal Commissioner K.C. Srivastava said, ‘‘We’ve been asked to take necessary actions against him.’’