Agartala, Aug. 7: The Left Front government in Tripura suffered a major setback after the Scheduled Caste welfare department cancelled the SC certificate of RSP (Revolutionary Socialist Party) legislator Partha Das as “fake”.
The RSP is a coalition partner in the Left Front government.
Following the directives of the Scheduled Caste certificate scrutiny committee chairman Santanu Das, the department director, B.C. Das, signed the official order cancelling the certificate on July 31.
But the matter came to light last yesterday .
Partha Das, however, was not available for comment.
Santanu Das said an inquiry conducted into the case revealed that the caste certificate submitted by Partha Das was “fake”.
“His family does not belong to the SC community. They obtained fake certificate for pecuniary benefits,” said Santanu Das.
Partha Das, a former leader of the CPM’s Scheduled Caste Co-ordination Committee, had contested the last Assembly election as CPM candidate from Shalgarah constituency reserved for SC in February 2008.
But even before he had entered the fray, his elder brother Chandan Das, a government homeopathic doctor, had been dismissed from service because the SC certificate submitted by him before facing the interview had been found to be fake.
In 2008, Nama Shudra welfare committee president Anil Chandra Das had filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Caste welfare alleging that Partha Das’s certificate was fake.
The commission put forward the complaint to the Scheduled Caste welfare department for conducting an inquiry. However, the matter hung fire for a long as the Left Front government tried to save Partha despite the hue and cry raised in the Assembly by the Opposition.
“In 2011,separate inquiries conducted by the SDO (Sadar) and SC certificate scrutiny committee concluded that Partha Das’s certificate was fake and recommended cancellation. But Partha Das moved the high court. A fresh inquiry was conducted but the result was the same,” said Santanu Das.
He said the fake certificate would be notified in the state gazette as cancelled.
Leader of the Opposition Ratanlal Nath has demanded criminal proceedings against Partha Das.
“According to the Representation of the People Act, all the salaries and allowances drawn by Partha Das are now liable to be realised from him. The state government should proceed in this direction,” said Nath.
