Under Secretary dismissed from service over ‘fake' caste certificate
The General Administration Department of the state government has recently passed the order to terminate services of Laxmi Katariya under the provisions of The Gujarat Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificates) Act, 2018.
She was first appointed as a Section Officer following her selection as a Scheduled Tribe candidate through a competitive exam. She was given a regular appointment in the Finance Department. Subsequently, she was promoted as the Under Secretary and appointed to the Legal Department.
However, the departmental scrutiny committee for the verification of caste certificate had ordered to cancel Katariya's caste certificate after finding it was fake. The committee also informed the authority concerned to take action as per the provisions of Section 11 and 12 of The Gujarat Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificates) Act, 2018.
Section 11 of the Act provides that if a person has secured job on a seat reserved for a particular caste on a false caste certificate then such a person's caste certificate will be cancelled and the person will be liable to be debarred from the appointment forthwith. Section 12 of the Act has provisions for cirminal offence and punishment.
This follows a recent case where Assistant Commissioner of Police, Surat City, B M Chaudhary, was dismissed from service after his caste certificate, which too showed he was a tribal, was found to be fake. A criminal case had been lodged against Chaudhary as well.
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