Top academician’s caste certificate found fake

The committee has further cancelled and confiscated the certificate which proclaimed Dr Bhobhate as belonging to `Dhangad’ community, a Scheduled Tribe. The order to this effect was issued by the committee on May 26.

With his caste certificate held invalid, Dr Bhobhate, Professor of Pathology, Government Medical College (GMC) and a noted academician, is slated to be terminated from his job and liable for criminal prosecution.

The copy of the order has been forwarded to authorities concerned including the Dean of GMC, Secretary (Medical Education and Drugs), Ministers for Health, Tribal Development, taluka magistrate of Yavatmal, who granted the caste certificate, Collector and District Magistrate of Yavatmal and Registrar of the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.

The order holding the caste certificate invalid comes after a long drawn scrutiny process undertaken by the committee. The process was delayed as Dr Bhobhate kept on evading appearance before the committee.

The scrutiny process was launched in July 1996 after the State Government referred the matter to the committee and Dr Bhobhate was issued the first summons of hearing in January 1997. After three-and-half years of evasion, he finally appeared before the committee on May 6.

The committee evaluated and systematically rejected seven supporting documents produced by Dr Bhobhate during the hearing and came to a conclusion that he (Dr Bhobhate) does not belong to Dhangad community as claimed by him and as mentioned in the caste certificate issued by the taluka magistrate of Yavatmal on November 18, 1968. The documents produced by Dr Bhobhate was evaluated against a set of documents submitted to the committee by the State Government.

The socio-cultural traits and ethnic linkage test was also taken up by the committee. Also the report of Police Vigilance Cell, submitted on January 1, 1997, was taken into consideration.

The clinching evidence that pinned his lies was the school leaving certificate of his father Keshaorao Bhobhate issued in 1932 (and obtained by Police Vigilance Cell), which records him (Keshaorao) as belonging to `Dhangar’ community (a nomadic tribe).

On this background the committee rejected the `original’ caste certificate, school leaving certificate of Dr Bhobhate, a certificate issued by Talathi of Kalamb, `fabricated’ school leaving certificate and caste certificate of his father and a copy of service book extract of his paternal uncle – all recording caste as `Dhangad’.

The committee noted that in most of these documents, the caste might have been recorded as per the entry provided by the persons concerned `in order to get the benefits of reservation’.

A number of serious irregularities have come to fore during the scrutiny. Apart from the fact that incorrect caste was registered with the taluka magistrate (who issued the `original’ caste certificate in 1968) and school authorities, a fake caste certificate in name of Dr Bhobhate’s father (issued in 1979) and a certificate by Talathi of Kalamb (issued in 1968) were obtained.

The false caste certificate was obviously used by Dr Bhobhate to obtain admissions to educational institutes and for gaining employment under reserved category. With the findings of the committee now sent to all competent authorities, Dr Bhobhate faces stringent penal action.