SHIV SENA corporator Sagun Naik disqualified

The councillor forged caste certificates so as to contest civic elections from reserved seat

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena corporator from Santacruz H (West) civic ward number 91, Sagun Naik has been disqualified by Konkan division commission’s caste scrutiny committee. This announcement was made by Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar in the general body meeting on Monday.

The decision to disqualify Naik was taken by the committee under the Caste Certificate Act 2000, which allows a competent authority to declare the councillor as invalid for providing fake caste certificates. Rafiq Shaikh from Congress party had complaint about the corporator fake cast certificates. Following which the Konkan commission took cognisance of the issue and issued an order to the corporator to provide original documents. Since the sitting corporator Naik was unable to prove the allegations made against him as false, has to face the disqualification. After the decision, the complainant Shaikh, who was also the second runner up and lost the ward election for a few votes against Naik earlier, will now become the councillors of the ward. Currently Sena, the ruling party in BMC has a total of 94 corporators, BJP has 86, Congress 31, NCP 9, MNS 1 and SP has 6 corporators. After Sagun's disqualification Sena's number of corporators will decrease by one in the civic body.