Former Burla NAC chairperson Chandrabati Naik on Tuesday heaved a sigh of relief as the Odisha High Court stayed her arrest warrant in a caste certificate forgery case.
Naik, by birth, belongs to general caste. But she married to a person belonging to SC community. Hence, wherever it was required, she mentioned herself as a SC person. She also got elected to the post of the Burla NAC chairperson which was reserved for SC category in 2010.
However, her opponents had challenged her SC status by lodging a complaint with the district welfare officer (DWO) that she had obtained a forged caste certificate from the Sambalpur tehsildar to occupy the seat.
Acting on the complaint, Sambapur DWO Krupasindhu Behera lodged an FIR in Burla police station against Naik. The police after registering a case were in search of Naik to arrest her. But Naik moved the Odisha High Court seeking a stay order on the arrest, which she finally got.