Thane: The Thane tehsildar’s office has recommended registration of a criminal case against Yunus Sheikh, father of AIMIM corporator Sahar Sheikh, after an inquiry into allegations that the family used a fraudulent Other Backward Class (OBC) caste certificate.The inquiry began after a complaint filed by Siddiqui Ahmad, a rival candidate from the NCP whose daughter lost to Sahar Sheikh. Tehsildar Umesh Patil led the investigation, which concluded that the OBC certificate used by the family was prima facie fake and that multiple govt agencies were systematically misled.The report cited documentary discrepancies in the 2011 certificate. It did not conform to the official state format, lacked the mandatory signature of the sub-divisional officer and omitted ‘State of Maharashtra’ from its title, which the report described as indicative of a forged document.The inquiry found that Yunus Sheikh and his family hailed from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Under the Maharashtra Caste Certificate Act 2000, migrants who relocate from other states were required to obtain caste certificates under Form 10. The family allegedly tampered with documents to obtain a certificate under Form 8, which was reserved for native residents of Maharashtra. The report stated that supporting documents submitted, including leaving certificates and the caste certificate of an uncle from Uttar Pradesh, failed to establish any familial connection to Maharashtra.Authorities flagged a jurisdictional anomaly in the issuance of Sahar Sheikh’s 2018 caste certificate. Despite the family residing in Thane, she obtained the certificate from the Mumbai city collector’s office. The report treated this as a deliberate attempt to bypass local scrutiny and noted that, under standard procedure, the certificate should have been issued by the Thane taluka authorities. It also held that the validity certificate obtained from the Mumbai Caste Scrutiny Committee was erroneous on the same grounds.The tehsildar recommended immediate cancellation of all associated certificates and registration of an FIR for cheating and fraud against Yunus Sheikh. The letter, addressed to the sub-divisional officer, sought appropriate orders for further action and was forwarded to the Mumbai city collectorate, the Thane collectorate and the Caste Scrutiny Committee for information and necessary steps.
