The Lok Sabha membership of Jyoti Dhurve, BJP MP from Betul in Madhya Pradesh, is under threat as a high-level inquiry committee has found the Scheduled Tribe certificate issued to her fake and cancelled it on Wednesday.

Betul is a reserved parliamentary constituency for Scheduled Tribes.

According to informed sources, the committee formed by the state’s Tribal Welfare Department had been inquiring into the genuineness of certificate issued to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP.

An order to this effect has already been issued by the Commissioner of Tribal Welfare Department and a member of the inquiry committee, Deepali Rastogi.

“As per the order, the documents submitted by Dhurve in support of her caste certificate relate to her maternal side, her husband and his relatives, whereas caste is decided on the basis of paternal lineage,” the source said.

The committee has already informed the Principal Secretary of the Tribal Welfare Department about the status of Dhurve’s ST certificate, and the officer in turn will inform the high court.

Acting on a petition challenging her caste certificate, the high court had ordered that the certificate for ST status issued to Dhurve be verified by the state government.