PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Rishikesh mayor Shambhu Paswan has denied allegations regarding discrepancies in his caste certificate, calling the controversy an attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill. The matter has come under judicial scrutiny after the Uttarakhand High Court directed the district magistrate of Dehradun Savin Bansal to investigate the legitimacy of the caste certificate and issue a decision within four weeks.
The controversy began when Dinesh Chandra (Masterji), an independent candidate who contested the Rishikesh municipal elections, filed a petition in the High Court. He alleged that Paswan, who contested and won the mayoral post claiming Scheduled Caste (SC) status, had at other times identified himself as belonging to the general category in official documentation.
According to the petitioner, this inconsistency raised serious doubts about the authenticity of the caste certificate that Paswan used to contest the election. Justice Ravindra Maithani, presiding over a single bench of the High Court, disposed of the petition but directed the District Magistrate to conduct a thorough inquiry into the matter. The court’s directive has now placed the mayor’s position under threat if the allegations are proven true. Chandra further claimed that Paswan had obtained a caste certificate just a few months before Uttarakhand attained statehood. This early certificate was later used as a basis for acquiring another caste certificate in 2016.
The petitioner also alleged that despite submitting a formal representation to the DM and filing an RTI request for records related to the caste certificate, the authorities failed to act or provide the necessary documents. In response to the allegations, the mayor has defended himself by pointing to a land registry document from 2002, which he says clearly identifies him as Shambhu Paswan. He claims that any discrepancies in caste identification were due to clerical errors made by registry officials, who used pre-printed templates that wrongly labelled his caste.
According to him, all other official documents have consistently reflected his identity as Shambhu Paswan and the current issue is being unnecessarily politicised. As the investigation by the DM proceeds into the alleged misuse or falsification of caste credentials, the political future of the mayor hangs in the balance.
