Kolkata, April 3 -- The Calcutta High Court on Friday permitted CPI(M)'s Manbazar candidate Sonamani Tudu to file her nomination for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election, even as questions over her Scheduled Tribe status remain unresolved.
The matter was heard urgently by Justice Krishna Rao with the nomination deadline approaching on April 6. Tudu, a Santhal by community, currently holds a tribal certificate issued in Jharkhand, her native state, but does not yet possess one from West Bengal, where she resides after marriage.
Her counsel argued that she had earlier contested a Lok Sabha election using her Jharkhand certificate and should be allowed to do the same now.
However, counsel for the Election Commission of India opposed the plea, citing Section 5(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The provision requires that a candidate contesting from a reserved Constituency must be recognised as a Scheduled Tribe in that particular state.
The Commission contended that without a valid West Bengal certificate, Tudu could not claim eligibility for a reserved seat in the state.
Allowing her to submit the nomination, the court clarified that acceptance would depend on scrutiny by the returning officer. The judge observed that authorities are free to reject the nomination if required documents are found lacking during verification.
Tudu has already applied for a caste certificate in West Bengal, though officials have flagged certain discrepancies.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.