Shiv Sena (UBT) has received a setback, as the Bombay High Court has upheld the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s move to disqualify former Mumbai Mayor Vishakha Raut over the issue of an invalid caste certificate.
Raut, who won the election from Ward Number 191, reserved for OBC women, had submitted an OBC certificate from Palghar district. The Palghar Caste Scrutiny Committee had recently declared her caste certificate as invalid. Raut had won the election by 167 votes, defeating Priya Sarvankar Gurav, daughter of former Shinde Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar. The BMC had told Raut that her caste certificate, issued in December 2025, had been declared invalid on August 20, and thus her election stands cancelled. The BMC had also asked the state Urban Development Department to disqualify Raut from contesting elections for a period of six years.
Vishakha Raut, who has also been a legislator for one term, had challenged the BMC action in the High Court. A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale turned down Raut's plea. The bench has directed that Raut's appeal against the order issued by the Palghar Caste Scrutiny Committee should be heard expeditiously. "Once the caste certificate is declared as false, then the legal consequences of a person being disqualified follow," the HC bench said.
This has virtually made it possible for Priya Sarvankar Gurav to stake a claim on victory in the election, as she was the runner-up and had lost by a mere 167 votes. Ward Number 191 is a prestigious ward, as it covers Shiv Sena bastion localities of Shivaji Park and Dadar West.
Raut is not the first corporator to lose her corporatorship. AIMIM corporator Roshan Shaikh, who represented Ward Number 138, has been disqualified. Deepak Sawant, a UBT Sena corporator from Ward Number 111, has also been disqualified. Shamir Patel, an AIMIM corporator of Ward 137, has also been disqualified, and Bushra Kaptan Malik of NCP (Ajit Pawar), who represented Ward Number 170, has also been disqualified. If Raut now joins this group, the total number of corporators disqualified for submitting a false caste certificate will be five.
