The convict had submitted fake educational certificates and affidavits in order to obtaining an SC certificate from the tehsildar office in Shiggaon.
Caste - Representational Photograph
A Karnataka court on Friday, 18 August, sentenced a woman in her 30s to seven years of imprisonment along with a penalty of ₹19,000 for obtaining a fake caste certificate with which she went on to serve in a post reserved for people from backward classes.
The convict, Lakshmi Kabbera, was awarded the sentence by the First Principal District and Sessions Court in the Haveri district.
Kabbera, a resident of Vanahalli in the Dharwad district of the state, used the fake caste certificate to serve as the president and member of a village panchayat in the Haveri district.
It all started for Kabbera on 15 June, 2018, when an FIR was registered against her at the Shiggaon Police Station based on a complaint from Satish S Chittagubbi, an official of the rank of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) from the Directorate of Civil Rights and Enforcement (DCRE).
Chittagubbi stated in his complaint that Kabbera had obtained a fake Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate from the Shiggaon Tehsildar Office in June 2015.
She submitted a fake educational certificate, an affidavit, and other certificates at the tehsildar’s office to obtain the caste certificate, with which she contested elections to the Hanumarahalli gram panchayat as an SC member, he added.
She also held the post of the panchayat president, which was a reserved an SC candidate, a senior police officer told South First.
During Lakshmi’s tenure as panchayat president in the Hanumarahalli village, a complaint was raised at the DCRE cell alleging that she was not a reserved-category candidate.
Based on the complaint, an inquiry was initiated at the tehsildar’s office, where the staff went on to verify Kabbera’s submitted documents. It came to light that she had submitted fabricated educational certificates along with affidavits to avail of an SC certificate so that she could contest for the panchayat post, which she won.
After it came to light that Lakshmi had submitted fabricated certificates, her caste certificate was cancelled by the tehsildar office.
Meanwhile, the DCRE petitioned the local administration to recommend that an FIR be registered against the woman as she had willfully cheated a reserved-category individual of a posting.
It was then that Chittagubbi lodged a complaint, based on which Kabbera was booked under Sections 198 (using as true a certificate known to be false), 196 (using evidence known to be false), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with a section of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2015.
Investigating Officer TG Sridhar Shastri conducted the probe and submitted the charge sheet to the court.
Judge GL Lakshminarayan passed the order on Friday, convicting Kabbera and sentencing her to seven years of imprisonment along with a fine of ₹19,000.
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