Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Police in Assam's Dhubri district have registered a criminal case against Janobi Mandal, the president of Dharmasala Gaon Panchayat, and her husband, Basir Uddin. The charges, filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, follow allegations of document forgery and conspiracy.
The controversy stems from a complaint filed by local resident Mohibul Hoque, who accused the couple of fabricating birth records for their son, Sakib Hasan. According to the complaint, the couple allegedly held two conflicting birth certificates to bypass panchayat disqualification rules. One certificate listed the birth date as June 3, 2015, while a second document, reportedly issued in 2026, claimed the date was January 15, 2017.
Hoque’s investigation via an RTI application revealed that the second certificate, which was allegedly presented to the Gauhati High Court, did not exist in official records at the Gauripur Community Health Centre. The FIR alleges that the couple used this fraudulent document to mislead the court and maintain Mandal's position as Panchayat President.
Following media reports regarding the discrepancy, Mandal withdrew her related writ petition from the Gauhati High Court on May 12. While the court disposed of the petition, legal experts noted that the withdrawal does not remove the potential for criminal liability regarding the alleged forgery and other serious offenses now under police investigation.
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