PRAYAGRAJ, July 7 -- The Allahabad high court has said that an election tribunal does not have jurisdiction to verify or declare a caste certificate forged; hence, the genuineness of a caste certificate cannot be challenged or scrutinised in an election petition.

Justice Neeraj Tiwari made this observation while dismissing an election petition filed by one Radha Charan, who had challenged the election of Vinay Prakash Gond in 2022 UP assembly elections from Ramkola legislative assembly constituency in Kushinagar district.

The assembly constituency was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates during the 2022 UP polls. According to the petitioner, Gond belonged to the Other Backward Class and had fraudulently obtained a Scheduled Caste cer...