Mulbagal (Kolar): Giving a rude shock to ruling Congress, the High Court (HC) has declared the caste certificate provided by Congress candidate from Mulbagal Reserve Assembly segment in 2013 as void.
Justice A S Bopanna has delivered this judgment, which springs new worries for Congress. Mulbagil constituency was declared a reserved constituency in 2013 and Kothur Manjunath had submitted a caste declaration to prove that he belonged to Budga Jangama tribe. Area Tahsildar had rejected the claim and cancelled his certificate. Following that decision, the then independent candidate Manjunath, moved HC in 2013.
JDS leader and taluk panchayat former president Muni Anjanappa and leader Muni Venkatappa had questioned the veracity of Manjunath’s claim and raised objections on the caste certificate at several platforms.
On 20 April 2018, K Manjunath submitted his nomination for the Mulbagal Reserve Constituency seeking re-election. He also submitted his nomination as an independent candidate from Kolar.
Meanwhile, Congress party had nominated former IAS officer Syed Zameer Pasha as the official candidate from Kolar.
In the changed scenario, following the HC verdict, MP Muniyappa’s second daughter Nandini may be declared as the official Congress candidate from Mulbagal Reserve Constituency and Kothur Manjunath may replace Syed Zameer Pasha considering the political clout Manjunath wields among the electorate in the region. Nandini had submitted her nomination as an independent candidate from Mulbagal constituency as a backup candidate for Congress.
Raising concern over the verdict, senior advocates Ashok Haranahalli for Kothur Manjunath hinted at filing a writ petition in the Supreme Court. “HC verdict is shocking at a time when the verification of nomination papers by Election Commission (EC) is in progress”, he noted.
The single judge bench of HC also levied Rs 25000 fine on Manjunath for providing false documents.
