Panchayat president who won seat with forged SC certificate booked

VELLORE: The panchayat president of Tholapalli village, who won the last civic body poll as an SC candidate, has been booked under the SC/ST Act and IPC sections for forgery.

The accused, S Kalpana, was elected as the president of Tholapalli village panchayat, which was reserved for SC (general), in the 2021 rural local body polls. One of the contestants, K Backiaraj (37), who belonged to the SC (Arunthathiyar) community, had filed a complaint alleging that Kalpana belonged to the Backward Caste (BC) but submitted a forged SC certificate during nomination.

A district-level vigilance committee found that the SC certificate was forged and Kalpana was disqualified. The committee forwarded the report to state election commission. Following direction from the Madras High Court, the police registered the FIR against Kalpana, based on a complaint lodged by Backiaraj, on December 31 (Saturday).

Police booked Kalpana under IPC sections 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of a document or an electronic device), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine any document which he/she knows or has reason to believe to be a forged document), and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and under the SC/ST Act.