Government official asked ₹1.5 crore bribe for caste validity certificate: Shiv Sena MLA

In the ongoing Maharashtra budget session, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Raimulkar made serious allegations while speaking in the legislative assembly. Raimulkar stated that an official had demanded ₹1.5 crore bribe from him in order to provide a caste validity certificate. 

The caste certificates have to submitted for gram panchayat and Zila Parishad elections and the assembly was discussing a bill on the extension of the deadline to submit caste validity verification certificates.

This is when Raimulkar, Shiv Sena MLA from Mehkar assembly constituency, made these allegations against a government official on the caste certificate panel. 

“An official on the caste validity verification committee demanded a ₹1.5 crore bribe from me and he is still in the same post today,” a report published in Times of India (TOI) quoted Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Raimulkar. 

While responding to the claims made by Sanjay Raimulkar, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that the government will suspend the official who demanded bribe from the Shiv Sena MLA for a caste validity certificate.

“Since the allegation was made on the floor of the house, we will suspend the official with immediate effect,” said Pawar. 

Raimulkar informed the assembly that he has been “struggling” to get caste validity certificate for nearly 10 years despite possessing documents “dating back 100 years” to prove his case. 

“If I faced such a struggle, you can imagine what the common man faces to get a caste validity certificate,” Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Raimulkar said. 

Also Read - Shiv Sena Nominates Priyanka Chaturvedi For Rajya Sabha

While highlighting the trouble to get a caste validity certificate, Raimulkar demanded the state government to implement an order that blood relatives of those who have received the caste certificate should also be provided similar documents without delay. 

Also Read - Coronavirus Pandemic: Maharashtra Budget Session Cut Short By A Week, Will Conclude On March 14

Also Read - Uddhav Thackeray Urges UP Government To Allot Land For Maharashtra Bhavan In Ayodhya