The Bombay High Court has come down heavily on Ashish Savant, the sarpanch of Nandgaon village in Raigad district, for securing election benefits through a fraudulent caste certificate. In a strongly worded judgment, a division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata dismissed Savant’s petition and imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh, calling his actions a “constitutional fraud.”
The case arose during the 2024 gram panchayat elections, when Savant’s opponent, Jalindar Khaire, filed a complaint before the Raigad District Caste Scrutiny Committee, disputing Savant’s claim of belonging to the Kunbi caste — an OBC (Other Backward Classes) category.
Following a detailed inquiry, the committee invalidated Savant’s caste certificate, noting it was obtained using falsified documents, including a forged school leaving certificate issued in his father’s name dated June 1982. The certificate was found to be bogus after the headmaster of the Raigad Zilla Parishad School in Vithalwadi, along with the police vigilance cell, confirmed it was never issued and that Savant’s father did not appear in school records.

The committee also found that Savant deliberately concealed an admission register from another school in Nandgaon, which had documented his caste as “Hindu Maratha” — a non-OBC category. Despite being given three opportunities to present his case, Savant failed to appear before the scrutiny panel.
Savant approached the High Court claiming he was not granted a fair hearing and that his documents were not properly verified. Rejecting his arguments, the High Court observed that Savant had “attempted to take undue advantage” of the benefits meant for disadvantaged communities by fabricating caste credentials. The bench reiterated that such misuse undermines the objectives of the reservation system.
“The petitioner’s conduct is nothing short of a constitutional fraud,” the court observed, while dismissing his plea and directing him to deposit ₹5 lakh as penalty.