Nearly two decades after he was disqualified as a corporator for allegedly using a fake caste certificate to contest from a ward reserved for Scheduled Castes in the 2002 BMC polls, Mumbai police registered an FIR against Ramesh Kamble. The FIR was registered based on a complaint given by advocate Chitra Salunkhe.

An officer from Chembur police station, where the FIR was registered on Thursday, said it was originally given to Belapur police, under whose jurisdiction the Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee is located. It was later transferred as zero FIR to Chembur police station, under whose jurisdiction the BMC ward from where Kamble was disqualified falls.

As per the complaint in the FIR, Kamble contested the BMC elections in 2002 on a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes from the then ward number 192 (Govandi) on behalf of the Congress party by submitting a caste certificate stating that he was a Hindu (Mahar).

Kamble won the elections by securing 4,721 votes and became a corporator while the Republican Party of India party candidate Rajendra Waghmare came second. Suspecting Kamble was not from a Scheduled Caste but a Christian, Waghmare filed a complaint with the Divisional Caste Verification Committee, Konkan Bhavan, Belapur, Navi Mumbai.

On November 11, 2005, after conducting an inquiry, the committee submitted a report stating Kamble was a Christian by birth and did not belong to the SC. The Committee relied on his School Leaving Certificate, his Baptism Certificate and the fact that his grandparents and parents were Christians too.

It was further noted that he also got married according to the Christian religion and declared the caste certificate issued to Kamble by the Deputy Collector of Mulund invalid. While Kamble later went into appeal, the Committee order was upheld and Waghmare, who secured second highest votes in the 2002 polls, was made the corporator for a period of six months.

Before disqualification Kamble had served at the post from February 2002 to November 2006. He later approached the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court, both of which held the Committee order correct.

When asked why an FIR was registered after more than two decades, an officer from Chembur police station said that they were just informed that a zero FIR had been registered at Belapur based on a complaint given by a lawyer and was being transferred to them since it was their jurisdiction. “We will investigate the matter” the officer added.