Mumbai News: Former BMC Corporator Ramesh Suresh Kamble Booked For Fake Caste Certificate Fraud In 2002 BMC Polls

Mumbai: A case has been registered at Chembur Police Station against a former municipal corporator for allegedly contesting elections using a fake caste certificate and defrauding the government and the public.

The complaint was filed by Chitra Anant Salunke (63), an advocate and resident of Chembur, who runs a legal firm along with her son. The accused has been identified as Ramesh Suresh Kamble, a former corporator from Ward No. 192 (Borla North–Deonar Abattoir).

According to the complaint, Kamble contested the 2002 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections from a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes by allegedly submitting a caste certificate claiming he belonged to the Hindu Mahar community. He won the election with 4,721 votes and served as corporator.

However, the runner-up candidate, Rajendra Vaman Waghmare, later raised objections and filed a complaint with the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee at Konkan Bhavan, Navi Mumbai. Following an inquiry, the committee, on November 11, 2005, concluded that Kamble was not from a Scheduled Caste but was a Christian by birth, based on documentary evidence including school records and a baptism certificate from a church in Matunga.

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The committee declared his caste certificate, issued by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Mulund, in 1998, as invalid. Kamble challenged the decision in multiple courts, including the Small Causes Court, the Bombay High Court, and later the Supreme Court. However, all courts upheld the findings of the caste scrutiny committee.

Following the disqualification, Waghmare was declared elected and served as corporator for the remaining term. The complaint further alleges that Kamble knowingly used forged documents to obtain the caste certificate and subsequently contested and held public office from February 2002 to November 23, 2006, thereby gaining undue benefits.

Based on the complaint, police have registered a case against Kamble under IPC Sections 193, 199, 406, 420, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, and 471 for forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust. Further investigation is underway.

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