Indore: A petition has been filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court demanding an investigation regarding the caste certificate of Minister of State Gautam Tetwal, who is contesting the 2023 Assembly elections from a Scheduled Caste reserved seat.

The petitioner has argued that Tetwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Employment, had contested the assembly elections last year from Sarangpur seat in Rajgarh district with a caste certificate obtained fraudulently.

Tetwal defeated Congress candidate Kala Mahesh Malviya by 23,054 votes.

The petitioner, Jitendra Kumar Malviya, said the minister belonged to the Jingar community, part of the Other Backward Class (OBC).

Petitioner's lawyer Dharmendra Chelawat told reporters here on Friday that the petition may be heard next week.

The minister, he said, belongs to the Jeenagar community, which falls in the OBC category, but he fraudulently obtained a certificate stating his caste as Mochi (cobbler).

He said that documents showing the caste of Tetwal's relatives as Jinagar have also been attached.

Chelawat said that in his client's petition he has been requested to get the caste certificate of Tetwal examined by summoning the records.