In what may seem like a major blow to the BJP, the third Additional District and Sessions Court in Kalaburagi on Tuesday disqualified the membership of corporator Priyanka Ambreesh Bhovi for submitting a fake birth certificate.
Ms. Priyanka, who represented ward no. 24 as BJP candidate and won the city corporation elections held in September 2021, submitted the fake birth certificate while filing nomination. The election officer had accepted her documents as there was no substantial evidence to raise objection.
However, opponent Syeda Noor Fatima Zaidi approached the court and challenged her age after collecting supporting documents through Right to Information (RTI), to prove that the Birth Certificate (stating that she had attained 21 years) submitted by Ms. Priyanka was fake.
Ms.Priyanka won by securing 1,587 votes, and Ms. Fatima who contested as an Independent candidate got 1,027 votes.
After going through the documents, the court disqualified Ms. Priyanka’s membership and declared the petitioner Ms. Fatima as duly elected as per the section 37 of Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act.
