The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice on a plea filed by former Mumbai Mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vishakha Raut challenging her disqualification as a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) councillor following the invalidation of her Other Backward Class (OBC) caste certificate.
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta directed that the councillor seat in Ward No. 191 (Dadar West–Shivaji Park), earlier held by Raut, should not be filled during the pendency of her statutory appeal challenging the caste certificate.
The Court ordered that the petitioner’s former councillor seat remain vacant and directed the appellate authority to rule on the pending appeal without being influenced by the lower court’s decision.
Raut had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s September 2 judgment dismissing her plea against a BMC communication declaring her seat automatically vacant under Section 16(1C)(a) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888.
The dispute arose after the Palghar District Caste Scrutiny Committee invalidated Raut’s ‘Kunbi’ OBC caste certificate on August 20, 2026. Subsequently, the Municipal Commissioner informed her that her election from Ward 191 stood cancelled and recommended her disqualification from contesting elections for six years to the State government.
Appearing for Raut, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising sought protection from the Supreme Court, particularly against her electoral opponent, Shiv Sena’s Priya Sarvankar Gurav, taking over the seat while Raut’s statutory appeal remains pending before the Divisional Commissioner, Konkan Division.
Jaising argued that the seat should remain vacant until the challenge to the caste certificate is decided.
The Bombay High Court had held that once a caste certificate is invalidated, the councillor’s election stands automatically and retrospectively terminated, irrespective of the pendency of an appeal against the invalidation.
The Supreme Court, however, directed the Divisional Commissioner, Konkan Division, to decide Raut’s pending statutory appeal expeditiously and on its own merits.
The Court also clarified that the appellate authority shall remain uninfluenced by the Bombay High Court judgment while deciding the pending appeal.
Raut was elected as a BMC councillor from Ward 191 on an OBC-reserved seat. Her election came under challenge after the Palghar District Caste Scrutiny Committee invalidated her ‘Kunbi’ caste certificate.
Following the invalidation, the BMC treated her councillor seat as vacant, prompting Raut to approach the Bombay High Court. After the High Court declined to interfere, she moved the Supreme Court.
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