Petition objects to Sanjeev Naik’s use of ‘Dr’

A petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court objecting to the use of the prefix ‘Dr’ by Ganesh Naik’s son Sanjeev Naik,who is contesting for the Nationalist Congress Party for the forthcoming elections.

The petition filed by Vijay Chougule,Naresh Mhaske and Vilas Joshi seeks clarification and removal of the “incorrectly prefixed” word ‘Dr’ before Naik’s name in the list of candidates and also that electronic voting machines do not display the same. According to petitioners,in the pamphlets distributed by Naik,it is mentioned that his efforts in the field of protection of environment and health was noted by the International Tamil University of Maryland,USA,which conferred a doctorate upon him. However,a verification of the Naik’s affidavit by the petitioners showed that he has neither described himself as a ‘doctor’,nor mentioned the ‘doctorate’. The affidavit also mentioned his qualification as ‘Class XII Science’. “The respondent has not clarified whether he has passed the XII exam,” the petition states.

Petition states that on April 13,2009 when the Election Commissioner declared the list of candidates and symbols allotted to them,it mentioned Naik’s name prefixed with ‘Dr’. The petitioners contend that this is violation of code of conduct and also misleads the voters. Petitioners’ state that the Returning Officer rejected their representation on the ground that Naik has the discretion to use the prefix. Petitioners have also urged court to direct filing of FIR for charges of cheating and impersonation. The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday.