the goan I network
PANAJI
Panaji Police on Tuesday booked St Cruz panch Lawrence Rodrigues for forgery of documents submitted for obtaining an OBC caste certificate thereby securing candidacy at the recent panchayat elections.
As per the FIR, Rodrigues forged a bonafide certificate and produced the same before the office of deputy collector and SDO, Tiswadi as genuine in order to secure an OBC caste certificate to contest from the reserved ward No. 3 of St Cruz panchayat.
Rodrigues has been booked under 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of IPC.
Previously, the SEC had conducted a hearing on the disqualification petition filed against Rodrigues by Inacio Pereira and two others.
In his petition, Pereira stated that Rodrigues submitted an invalid OBC certificate from Vasco-based Association of Christian Backward Classes (ACBC) to prove his caste status and thereafter was elected in reserved ward during the recent panchayat polls.
Confirming Pereira’s suspicion, North District Registrar V T Hadkonkar had said that the ACBC has not renewed its registration certificate till date. Therefore, it becomes an unregistered society under section 3 (B) 5 of the Societies Registration (Goa Second Amendment Act, 1998).
With the declaration that this particular association was unregistered at the time of issuance of the caste certificate, Rodrigues and several other elected representatives may find themselves in a soup.
Pereira had also alleged that ACBC secured Rs 25,000 to issue caste certificate to each candidate and has voiced his resolve to pursue the case of other two panch members upon conclusion of the present case before SEC.
