The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by Rashmi Barve, a Congress candidate for the Ramtek Lok Sabha (LS) seat. This decision by the Supreme Court has significant implications for the upcoming Ramtek Lok Sabha election, setting the stage for a contest between Shyamkumar Barve and Raju Parve.This decision clarifies that Congress candidate Shyamkumar Barve and BJP candidate Raju Parve will compete for the seat in upcoming Lok Sabha election. The division bench consisting of Justice B R Gavai, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, and Justice Sandeep Mehta rejected Barve’s petition on Wednesday. The backdrop of this decision lies in the cancellation of Rashmi Barve’s caste validity certificate by the district caste certificate verification committee.

 

As a result, her application for the Ramtek Lok Sabha election was nullified. Last Thursday, the High Court provided temporary relief to Rashmi Barve by staying the decision of the Caste Validity Committee. However, the court opted not to intervene in the ongoing election process. This decision was issued by the bench of Mukulika Khabikar, who also directed all respondents to submit their replies by April 24. Barve, through her lawyer, had contended in the High Court that these actions were politically motivated and unlawful. Despite efforts to expedite the hearing, the court deemed the matter non-urgent. Senior Counsel Dama Sheshadri Naidu appeared for petitioner Rashmi Barve, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for State of Maharashtra, Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi with Adv Mohit Khajanchi for complainant.